Star Fox Liberation
by Sokulski
Summary: It's been a few months since the aparoid threat was neutralized, & life seems to have moved on peacefully. After the funeral of General Pepper, Starfox is attacked. A new and powerful enemy reveals themselves, and for some reason...they're after Falco...
1. Chapter 1

Hi peeps!!!!! I wanted to do a story like this for a while…just never had a solid idea!!!!! XD

Enjoy!!!!!!

Ch. 1~

The streets of Corneria City had never been so crowded, much less on a rainy and stormy morning. It was a cold autumn rain that tapped quietly on the dozens of black uniform umbrellas hovering over scattered parts of the crowd. Every business, even the tiny and penniless sidewalk hotdog stands stood in the pouring rain, abandoned from use. The crowds were lined up along the side of the main street running through the entire city. Some stood beneath the covers that hovered above shop doors if they didn't have an umbrella to shield themselves with. Every citizen, even some from other planets had gathered, but this wasn't a celebration. No…it was far from it. There were no conversations, no giggles, discussions or gossip. It was silent, and somehow, it seemed as though the silence deepened when a group of six uniformed members of the Bulldog squadron came marching through the center of the street, each manning a handle of the large red wood closed casket. Every citizen was dressed in black. A black suit here, a black dress there, but no other color. They were heading towards the city's largest graveyard, where the casket would be buried. The entire Bulldog squadron watched with silent tear-stained or saddened eyes as the casket passed by.

Among the crowd, five individuals stood, as solemn as the rest, watching the casket sluggishly pass by. One was an old and withered rabbit. He stood with a black umbrella, holding it up to shield himself and the young frog standing next to him who was crying quietly. He had a hand on his shoulder, a tiny act of comfort, and had his eyes glued to the casket. Next to them, stood a beautiful purple vixen that also held an umbrella for herself and the orange vulpine standing next to her. She caressed the side of his hand with her thumb, feeling his fingers weave with hers. She glanced at him in the corner of her eye knowing, not only because she was gifted with telepathy, that there was no one more saddened by General Pepper's death than he was now. She looked away from the vulpine and stole a glance at their silent blue avian ace pilot. He stood with his arms folded across his chest in the rain, unaffected by the rain that was soaking him to the bone. Many in the crowd suffered the same way, but it seemed that being wet was as unimportant as a pebble on the road. The casket was carried into the graveyard, then one of the members of the Bulldog squadron returned to the crowd a few minutes later. It was Bill.

"The ceremony will continue in the graveyard. You can enter through the main entrance or the side gardens." He said before turning around and re-entering the graveyard. The purple vixen turned to the vulpine who still remained silent as the crowd around them began to move towards the graveyard. The avian stood, waiting with them.

"Slippy and I will go ahead." The rabbit said to them as he began to lead the frog away.

"We will be there soon." She replied. He nodded and continued with the frog. "Let it out Slippy." He said comforting him.

"It's alright." She said softly to the vulpine.

"I know." He replied as he watched a couple of children walk by them with their parents.

"Sorry, Krystal." He said after a moment. Krystal looked at him confused. "Could you give us a minute?" he asked with a sad smile. She nodded, returning a more comforting one and took her umbrella, seeing no attempt from her captain to take it and walked towards the graveyard.

The avian gazed up at the smoky grey sky, hearing the soft rumble of thunder. They stood there in silence, as they always did in times like these. He waited patiently for his captain, as he always would. He glanced back at the vulpine when he turned towards the graveyard, his back now to him.

"Ready?" the avian asked calmly. The vulpine nodded.

"Yeah. Thank you, Falco." He said to the avian as they began to walk.

"Don't thank me." He replied simply. The two walked in silence the rest of the way, feeling the impact of the morning's gloom as they approached the place of final farewell.

"He was a good man, an exceptional General, and a caring person." The proctor of the funeral spoke as the casket was lowered into the ground.

"He had hope for the future of the Lylat System, and every child in it. He dreamed for peace, and as his allies and loved ones, were always willing and able to aid him when he called for help, just as he would willingly do for us." He said. "Although this day is a day for gloom, we should be thankful, that our beloved general wasn't destroyed by the aparoid threat only months before, so he could live to see that peace that we will uphold." Mainly, thanking the Starfox team, along with the Starwolf team for their assistance. It seemed that Starwolf hadn't come, but this service was televised for those who couldn't come to Corneria. The service ended once the casket had been completely buried, and the stone plaque cemented to the ground. The Starfox team moved in silence in the rain, as did the rest of the crowd that eventually split up into dozens of different directions. Probably heading to the airports scattered all over the city. Thankfully, their ship was in a hanger, awaiting them with the generous offer to escape any traffic or excruciating lines that took hours for a seat on a plane.

"So…where are we going to go?" Slippy asked breaking the silence.

"Home I guess." Fox replied as they continued walking. Home. Home was the Great Fox, their mother ship. They lived there together, either because of the constant missions they would be dragged into, or because they didn't really have a home to go back to.

The rest of the time aboard the Great Fox was silent. All day, her crew worked as a well-oiled machine of activity and distractions. Everyone doing his or her part, quietly and efficiently. They were in the briefing room, but briefing was the last thing on their minds. They were all just keeping to themselves and their thoughts. Peppy was reading something from a computer screen, an article about the death of the beloved general's heart failure from the effects of age. Slippy was dragging a piece of chalk across the surface of a thick blue paper, designing a blueprint for who knows what he was planning on developing this time. Fox and Falco sat across each other, being the only ones actually interacting with someone else, playing chess, and Krystal merely sat quietly reading a book. It's strange how deliberate people are after death. The doors slid open, and all in the room paused to look up at the doors. ROB, the robotic operator of the Great Fox, entered the room.

"That's weird…" Peppy said turning in his chair towards the robot.

"What?" Fox asked looking over at the rabbit.

"FOX!" Krystal suddenly screamed. Before he could even react, He heard the clattering of the chess pieces flying everywhere, then a pair of arms lock around him before being taken down to the ground and landing on his back, with the chair rolling from underneath him. The rest was hazy…happening way to fast to fully comprehend. He heard fires from a gun but…from whom? Fox listened to the shuffling and panicked commands in the room that varied from taking down ROB and helping Falco. Fox's ears stung from the sounds of the gun's bullets. He slowly opened his eyes and gazed around the room. Peppy and Slippy next to ROB who was now on the ground. A smoking gun, rarely enough not a lazer gun, in Peppy's hand. He watched as Slippy opened ROB's chest and began ripping wires. Krystal was kneeling over him, but she wasn't looking at him with that panicked expression on her face. He glanced around again and blinked. Where was Falco? When he tried to sit up, he realized that something was weighing him down. He couldn't understand why he was so lightheaded. His eyesight was blurry, and every yell or scream he heard echoed as if there was water in his ears. How close had the gun been to him?

"_He's bleeding!_" he heard Krystal gasp.

"_His ribcage!_" he then heard Slippy cry out. Fox closed his eyes again and began to reach for his own ribcage while trying to keep his breaths even. He had gotten shot? His hand touched something warm and wet…but he had barely brought his hand towards his chest…Fox opened his eyes again and looked in the direction, seeing Peppy and Slippy scrambling over to him in his peripheral vision. His hand was completely caked in blood, but he couldn't feel the wound…Fox looked down at the source of the blood, knowing although the daze was affecting his comprehension, it shouldn't be so hard…His eyes rested on the source, following an arm that was still underneath his shoulder, then the back of a blue head that lay on the ground next to his. Fox's eyes widened in horror.

"FALCO!"

That's it!!!!! Good????? Yes???? No?????? Let me know!!!!! R&R!!!!!!!!


	2. Chapter 2

Hi peeps!!!!! Thanks for the reviews!!!!!!

Enjoy!!!!!!!

Ch. 2~

"FALCO!"

"Slippy, figure out what's wrong with ROB!" Peppy said already at the command. Slippy stole another horrified glance at the avian pilot before nodding sheepishly. "Krystal, stay with Slippy incase he needs help!" Krystal looked over at him and nodded as Fox carefully rolled Falco onto his back.

"Falco! Falco! Can you hear me?" he called to him. Krystal looked down at him, reluctant to follow her orders with her friend so heavily wounded.

"_Fox, help me carry Falco to the Medical corp!_" he hard Peppy say to him. He was still dazed, his comprehension slow, and now the shock made it worse. He felt Peppy place his hand on his shoulder, but everything was still so hazy.

"_He won't survive if you don't help him!_" That was enough to make him react faster than he should have been able to. Peppy was careful in locking his arms around Falco's upper ribs as Fox got his legs. He saw Falco wince from the expected excruciating pain as they began to carry him out of the room.

---

"Ah-a!" Slippy announced suddenly. Krystal looked up from where she was crouched on the ground cleaning the blood with a wet rag.

"What is it?" she asked quickly.

"Look! Someone put this microchip in ROB!" he said showing her the tiny purple square.

"To attack Fox?" she asked. Slippy nodded. "But who could have done it? And when?" she asked.

"I don't know…" Slippy sighed. Krystal frowned as she returned her attention to the floor. She paused when she saw a chess piece on the ground and silently lifted it up, examining the bloody knight.

"Hey wait!" Slippy said suddenly. Krystal looked over at him while cleaning the piece. "During General Pepper's funeral! That's when who ever did this must have done it!"

"But who would want to? I doubt Wolf would go this far. Besides, any one remaining that served Andross was barred from the funeral." She replied as she stood and placed the piece on the chessboard.

"I don't know! But who ever it was almost killed Fox! And Falco…" Slippy's voice trailed off. Krystal looked away from him as she began to pick up the chess pieces that were either on the ground or scattered over the table. It was all to clear to her still. She was sitting next to Falco when it happened. ROB randomly pulled out the gun, practically shoved it against Fox's skull, and Falco threw himself foreword, throwing his arms around Fox and received the shot at point-blank while sliding off of the table, courtesy of the chess pieces.

"You think he'll be ok?" Slippy asked after a moment. Krystal blinked back to reality and turned to him.

"Let's go see." She said placing a hand on his shoulder. Slippy nodded.

---

"Ok, easy now." Peppy said as he helped Fox lie down on the bed in the medical room. Falco lay unconscious in the other bed that stood on the opposite side of the room.

"…Falco, is he-"

"Don't worry about him anymore. I've removed the bullet and given him pain killers." He said stopping Fox from sitting up.

"But the bullet-"

"Luckily, it wasn't too serious. Falco will be ok, and now you have to relax as well. You almost died today." He explained. Fox stole a glance at Falco and reluctantly gave in and lied back down. Peppy turned back to Falco and silently watched the heart monitor, listening to the constant beeping. His wound was serious, but thankfully he cared for it in time. He would recover, but the recovery would be slow. But, that wasn't what worried him. The Starfox team's members were shortened. Peppy sighed exasperatedly and turned back to Fox, seeing him unconscious now too. Obviously the excitement had taken a lot out of him. He turned when he heard the doors slide open and saw Krystal walk in.

"Did Slippy find out what was wrong with ROB?" he asked. Krystal nodded.

"He's in the bridge," she with a worried expression on her face. Peppy frowned.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We believe that someone boarded the Great Fox during General Pepper's funeral and placed a microchip inside of ROB."

"To kill Fox?" Krystal nodded. Peppy looked back at Fox and frowned.

"Do we know who?" he asked as Krystal walked over to Falco and placed her hand on his forehead.

"No." she said before closing her eyes in focus. Peppy waited patiently.

"His brain waves have settled." She said as she re-opened her eyes and removed her hand. "All of his mind's focus is on recovery." She explained.

"Good." Peppy sighed in relief.

"Slippy wanted you to help him with something." Krystal said to him. Peppy nodded.

"Watch these to for me while I'm gone." Peppy said as he headed for the door. Krystal nodded and watched him walk out of the room. She sighed exasperatedly and walked over to Falco's side. They'd be one pilot short for now, and unfortunately…there was only one person for the job, and she knew Falco wouldn't be happy about it either. Her only hope was that they didn't require any help with tracking down Fox's attacker.

That's it!!!!!!! Short I know, but next one's gonna be longer so yeah…R&R!!!!!!!!


	3. Chapter 3

Hi peeps!!!!!! Sorry the wait!!!!!!

Enjoy!!!!!!!

Ch. 3~

Krystal sat on the bed next to Fox, watching him silently as he slept. She gently stroked the side of his hand as his chest rose and fell with every breath. Funny how worrying seemed to expand the wait. She sat there staring at Falco, as if just her gaze could revive him.

"…Krystal…?" Krystal looked down at Fox, seeing him looking back at her with a confused look on his face. She wrapped both of her hands around his as she turned on the bed to face him.

"Are you alright?" she gasped. Fox nodded.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Krystal shook her head.

"Thank goodness." She sighed.

"How's Falco?" he asked. Krystal gazed over at Falco and frowned. She watched him gaze over at his ace pilot in the corner of her eye, seeing a look of guilt in his eyes.

"He will recover." She explained, gazing over at the avian again. "I assume it will take time for him to regain consciousness."

"Why?"

"His entire body has centered its focus on recovery." She replied. Fox stole another glance at Falco before slowly sitting up.

"You should rest a little longer." Krystal said placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I have to talk to Peppy." He said stealing one last glance at Falco. "Don't worry, I'm ok." Krystal nodded reluctantly and stood as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.

---

"How long do you think it will take to repair him?" Peppy asked. Slippy shrugged.

"Who knows? That microchip completely messed up his entire system!" he groaned as he continued to study ROB's blueprints. Peppy sat back in his chair and sighed exasperatedly. Who ever was behind this needed to be stopped…but who _had_ done this? He and Slippy looked up quickly at the sound of the siren.

"Oh no! Something's happening on Fichina!" Slippy gasped.

"Are you sure?" Peppy asked getting up from his seat and hurrying over to Slippy's computer. He was right. Dozens of ships were entering Fichina's atmosphere!

"Slippy, zoom in on the ships!" he said quickly. Slippy nodded and pressed a few buttons on the keyboard. The image of one of the ships expanded on the screen, showing them a sight that chilled their blood.

"It…It can't be…!" Slippy gasped.

"They're Aparoids!"

"What's going on?" Fox asked as he and Krystal burst into the room.

"Aparoids are attacking Fichina!" Slippy said quickly. Fox stared at them with obvious confusion.

"That's impossible!"

"We destroyed the aparoid queen, that should have destroyed them all at once!" Krystal added. Peppy made a fist.

"It doesn't change the fact that it's happening now! Get going and see what you can do about those aparoids!" he commanded.

"But we're short one pilot!" Slippy said. "We can take all of them by ourselves!"

"I'll use the Great Fox to cover you from space! When you're on Fichina," Peppy paused. "You're on your own. We'll just have to deal with it for now!"

"Got it!" Fox said with a nod.

"Let's hurry!" Krystal said to him. Fox looked over at her and nodded before darting out of the room.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Slippy called.

"Take care of Falco for me!" Fox called back. Peppy nodded as the doors slid closed behind Slippy. He sighed exasperatedly and sat back at Slippy's console, waiting for Fox's confirmation that they were taking off. He tapped his thumb nervously on the side of the keyboard as he waited in the piercing silence. It wasn't possible…! The aparoids…they were back! Peppy glanced at a screen on the consol, seeing it flashing red and stared.

"Oh no…Falco!"

---

The constant beeping of the heart monitor echoed in the small medical room. The only occupant of the room lay extremely unconscious in the bed standing against the left wall. The lights in the room were off, leaving the room practically pitch black. The occupant was alone, and defenseless… The door to the room slid open and revealed a cloaked figure standing at the door. The hood was pulled low over the figure's face, and the cloak completely covered their body. The figure stood there for a moment, staring at the unconscious avian as he slept. After a moment, the figure stepped foreword, walking over to the avian's side and continued to stare down at him as if waiting for something to happen. The figure was unmoving, watching Falco sleep; his chest rhythmically rose and fell with every breath, lacking any sign of recovery. For another few minutes the figure merely stood there. Then, the figure reached out a completely gloved hand and placed his hand flat on Falco's wound. Falco winced in pain, and his breathing quickened. The figure suddenly began to press his hand against the wound, making Falco gasp for air. His eyes flew open and he saw the intruder. Falco cried out in pain when the figure squeezed the wound. He grabbed the intruder's wrist and glared.

"W-Who the hell…what do you think…you're doing?" he demanded. The figure didn't answer as they pulled something from their cloak pocket. It was the light from the small screen of the heart monitor that allowed Falco to see what the figure was holding. It was tiny, but he knew very well what that was…an aparoid!

"Bastard…!" he growled as struggled to remove the intruder's hold on his wound. The apperoid's mechanical legs clanked as they wriggled eagerly to attach to him.

"Let go of me!" Falco yelled before slamming his foot against the intruder's chest. The intruder fell back, but grabbed their hood in time and again stood. Falco pulled the wires from his arm and clutched his wound. Blood rushed between his fingers as he stood from the bed and watched the figure stand. The figure stood, holding the small aparoid in their hand, ready to try again.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded. The figure gave no answer. They merely stood there watching him. Falco made a fist, frustrated that there were no weapons around for him to use. In his situation, disarming would be useless and impossible-if the intruder had a weapon besides the small spider-looking aparoid. The figure then began to step foreword with the aparoid in hand. Falco released his wound, ready to fight back, weapon or no weapon. Just as the intruder drew closer, the door to the room flew open, with Peppy standing in the doorway holding a blaster.

"I should have known." He said as he stepped in. "I suppose there wasn't enough time for you to sneak back off the ship, and now you're hoping to take a hostage. Am I right?" he asked holding the blaster ready. The cloaked intruder turned to face him, revealing the aparoid. Peppy's eyes widened in shock.

"Give me the blaster!" Falco called. Without hesitation, Peppy tossed the blaster, and Falco received before the intruder could interfere. It turned sharply towards Falco in time to be taken down by its strengthened red blast. The intruder tumbled back onto the ground, blood seeped all over the floor it lay on. Peppy wasted no time in moving past the intruder and over to Falco.

"What did he do to you?" he asked helping Falco lean against the wall behind him. His eyes darted to the wound, seeing the blood seeping down Falco's leg.

"Damn it…!" he growled.

"He's gone…" Peppy turned sharply and froze. The blood still remained, but the figure had fled.

"If we had ROB, we'd locate him by now!" he cried out in frustration.

"We're in the middle of space, that guy can't-" Falco cut off, realizing where the intruder was headed.

"Your arwing!" Peppy gasped.

"Go get him!" Falco said giving him the blaster. Peppy shook his head.

"You're injured! I'm not going to leave you alone now!" he replied.

"Just go! The guy tried to kill me, he screwed it up, so just go and take him out! I'll lock myself in or something!" Falco responded. Peppy nodded reluctantly and moved out of the room. Falco winced again from the pain of his re-opened wound. The door slip closed, making the room dark again. Falco looked around the room, glancing at the blood and settled his gaze on a roll of gauze. He winced as he began to move towards it. If Peppy was chasing after who ever that guy was, no one was helping Fox and the rest. He'd have to do it.

---

Peppy moved quickly through the hallways, following the trail of blood. As expected, the intruder was heading for the hanger. Although tiny, that aparoid was also a threat. He had to get rid of it, then try to capture the intruder…if he didn't kill him first. He rounded another corner and found himself in front of the doors to the hanger. He slowly proceeded foreword, heaving with the blaster in hand. He had permanent wounds, and age was catching up with him, but he wouldn't let that stop him. He gazed around cautiously when he saw Falco's arwing was empty and inactive. The doors slid behind him as he continued to step foreword. Peppy glanced down at the floor and froze. The trail ended there…His heart skipped a beat, and he looked up at the ceiling above him before quickly moving out of the way of the cloaked figure diving down at him. He quickly shot the intruder's leg and moved closer.

"Who are you?" he demanded. The intruder cried out in pain…male. They clutched their leg as they attempted to crawl away from Peppy. Peppy was faster. He pinned the intruder to the ground and held to blaster to his head.

"Answer me! Why did you try to kill Fox?" he demanded. Out of nowhere, the figure chuckled before bringing the aparoid to their own neck. Peppy shivered when he saw the aparoid stabs its legs into the figure's neck. Peppy fell back when the figure shoved him and took off towards the shielded opening the arwings used to exit the Great Fox.

"Get back here!" Peppy yelled. It was too late. The figure leaped through the shield and slammed against the Great Fox's wing, ripping in two pieces. Peppy looked away from the grotesque sight, holding his hand over his mouth while his stomach flipped. Then the feeling dissolved when he remembered.

"Falco!" he got up to his feet and moved fast out of the hanger, as fast as his old body allowed.

---

"Peppy! Peppy come in!" Fox called through the communicator.

"Something must have happened!" Krystal said with obvious concern.

"This is bad! There are too many-" _**BOOM!**_ "…Aparoids?" Slippy said gazing dumbfounded at the dozens of aparoids smoking in the snow.

"They detonated!" Krystal gasped.

"All at the same time…but why?" Fox asked.

"I sense that there are no more brain waves being emitted from them…" Krsytal said after a moment.

"We gotta go back and help Peppy and Falco!" Slippy said quickly. Fox nodded.

"Yeah. Let's-"

"FOX!" Krystal suddenly screamed. He looked over at her arwing and stared. An enormous aparoid rose from the snow, mimicking the appearance of a centipede.

"Why are these things still alive?" Slippy gasped.

"This isn't happening!" Fox said with disbelief.

"…Attack the weak point on its lower spine!" Fox's eyes widened.

"Falco?" he gasped.

"Y-Yeah it's me…just do it!"

"You don't sound too good!" Slippy said.

"Yeah, I almost got killed a while ago." He explained.

"Falco what happened to Peppy?" Fox asked. He could only hear Falco panting instead of hearing a reply.

"He's weak, whatever is going on up there, they need our help!" Krystal said to him.

"No!" Falco replied. "Just take it out by shooting the spot on its lower spine." He explained.

"Falco…" Fox saw the spot and began firing. After a few attempts, and dodging its attacks, the aparoid came crashing down.

"We did it!"

"Falco are you ok?" Fox asked as he began heading back to the Great Fox. Krystal and Slippy flanked him.

"…I'm fine, and Peppy should be alright." He explained.

"Should be?"

"No don't worry I'm alright as well."

"Peppy!" Slippy called. His voice had sounded distant at first, but then it became clearer. Obviously he had just returned to the bridge.

"We're on our way back now! What happened? Why did we lose communication?" Fox asked. There was silence for a moment.

"Is anyone there?" Slippy called.

"Quit yelling, Slippy." Falco said annoyed.

"Whoever tried to kill you earlier, Fox, was still onboard. While I was in the bridge, they snuck into the medical room and tried to kill Falco." He explained.

"What? Why didn't anyone tell me sooner?" Fox demanded.

"Calm down Foxie, it's over…We took care of it." Falco replied.

"Where is he now?" Krystal asked. Another pause.

"Oh my gosh!" Slippy gasped. "I see blood on the left wing!"

"Does that answer your question?" Falco asked. Krystal nodded, even though she knew it couldn't be seen.

"Look, the important thing is, is that Falco's alright, you're all still alive, and now we know for certain that the aparaoids and the intruder are connected." Peppy explained as he watched Falco wince again.

"Really? How?" Fox asked. Peppy kept his gaze on Falco. Falco looked away, obviously hoping to avoid the subject so as not to worry the already panicked vulpine. Peppy gave him an apologetic look before explaining.

"…Because he tried to apply one to Falco." He said reluctantly.

"You don't think they could have…domesticated them…do you?" Krystal struggled with the words. Peppy frowned.

"It's possible!" Slippy gasped. "They don't have to follow the queen anymore! They're just lifeless machines now!"

"Then that's exactly what's going on." Peppy replied. Falco glanced at him. There was a long silence over the communicator for a long time.

"We're almost there." Slippy said after a moment.

"Falco…" Fox said suddenly. Falco looked over at the console.

"What is it?" Falco asked.

"…I'm sorry. That's the second time that you almost…because of me…" Fox's voice trailed off.

"Don't get sentimental on me, Foxie." He sighed. Peppy grinned. "We can even things out later." He said. Another pause.

"We're here. I'm coming up."

That's it!!!!!!! R&R!!!!!!!!!


	4. Chapter 4

Hi peeps!!!!!!!!! Sorry for the wait!!!!!!!

Enjoy!!!!!!!

Ch. 4~

"And we don't know who it was?" Fox asked. Peppy shivered from the memory.

"No. They killed themselves before we could figure it out." He explained. Fox frowned, steeling a glance at Falco when he winced again from his now bandaged wound. He quickly looked away when he realized Falco had caught him.

"I told you," Falco sighed. "Don't get sentimental on me."

"How can't I? I almost got you killed twice!" Fox argued.

"And?" he shrugged. Fox sighed exasperatedly.

"I'll say it again." Peppy said rising from his chair. "The important thing is that Falco's alive, and we at least caught a glimpse of how far who ever did this is willing to go. Even if we couldn't see their face." He reasoned.

"But we still don't know if the intruder was hired or a member of something." Fox replied, stealing a glance at the doors as they slid open. Krystal walked into the room with a pair of crutches. She walked past him and handed one to Falco.

"I wasn't entirely sure how to adjust them…" she admitted.

"It's fine, I can do it. Besides, I only need one." Falco said as he adjusted the one she had handed him.

"In this condition, I doubt you will be able to pilot your arwing." Krystal frowned. Falco frowned.

"And if those aparoids are being controlled by the people trying to kill Fox then we're going to need help!" Slippy explained.

"But who could we ask to fill in for Falco?" Krystal asked.

"It has to be someone who has experience piloting with us." Peppy explained.

"And someone that we all know well enough to trust." Fox added.

"Wait! These guys can use aparoids! We'd need someone who knows how to remove them from their ship!"

"Ok, you mean like someone with experience with Explosives?" Fox asked.

"Yup." Falco froze, seeing Krystal glance at him nervously.

"Maybe someone stealthy and can get through places packed with thieves and gang members!" Slippy said, smug with the idea. Falco felt his blood chill in his veins, realizing that one by one they were coming to the same conclusion, and he was going to be helpless to stop it.

"Why?" Peppy asked.

"No. Slippy has a point." Fox said turning to the rabbit. "The enemy might very well be part of some gang, or may just be some crazy remnants of Andross's army." Fox explained. Krystal silently sat in the seat next to Falco's and watched him in the corner of her eye with an apologetic look.

"And I think I know just the person," Peppy said already punching buttons on the console behind him.

"_Great...!_" Falco sighed, hanging his head in defeat. Krystal giggled quietly while placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Be strong, it's only temporary." She said as the screen on the large monitor of the bridge turned on with the words, "dialing" scrolling across it.

"Have you're blaster?" he asked suddenly. Krystal looked at him confused.

"Yes…" she said reluctantly. Falco reached out his hand for it. Krystal, unknowing what he meant by all of this, placed the gun in his hand.

"Good, now kill me." He said without even looking at her. Krystal smiled with a small chuckle before taking the gun back.

"Quit complaining! You're the one who insulted her!" Slippy said to him.

"Shut up." Falco said annoyed. Fox grinned to himself and looked up at the monitor when the screen revealed an attractive blue-eyed feline with died pink fur sitting on a black leather sofa in a white sundress and heals while fiddling through her small white purse.

"I was contemplating answering because of last time I-" the feline paused when she saw the state of the avian. "Worked with you." She said finishing her sentence.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, Katt." Peppy began. "It's just…" his voice trailed off, seeing her distracted gaze still on Falco. When he glanced at the ace Pilot, he saw him avoiding her gaze with his arms folded across his chest.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" she asked, recovering from what ever had her so caught off guard. He thoughts so because an injury wasn't something that would shock Katt Monroe.

"Well to sum things up, someone snuck onto the ship and tampered with ROB." He said glancing at the pieces of the robot spread on the ground in front of Slippy's console.

"So that's why its like that?" she said finding humor in the remark. "Do you know what an aparoid is?" he asked. She nodded.

"I heard about them." She replied.

"We finished them off a while back, but it seems like who ever tampered with ROB, can also domesticate them. W just barely managed to save Fichina from an all out attack from them." He explained.

"I see." She said leaning back in the chair and crossing her long legs.

"In Falco's condition, he can't possibly fly his arwing." He explained, stealing a glance at Falco.

"_Well_, I'll help you!" she said with a grin. Peppy sighed, relieved by the outcome. "…But it's going to cost you." She added suddenly. Peppy looked back up at her, feeling discouraged as to what that cost was exactly. Falco rolled his eyes, knowing what was coming.

"Cost?" Slippy repeated.

"What do you want?" Fox asked slowly.

"Oh don't worry. By 'you' I mean Falco, so you can rest easy." She said winking at Fox. Fox stole a glance at Falco who was glaring at Katt. He didn't feel good about any of it. He almost got his friend killed twice, and now he was making him feel miserable.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Falco asked annoyed.

"Sorry, private conversation! If you all could just step outside for a second, and we'll negotiate." She said to them. Krystal glanced at Falco and frowned.

"Fine." Peppy said as he walked past Falco. "Just make up with her." He said while passing him. Falco didn't even glance at them as they left the room. He looked up at Katt, seeing her watching them leave until the doors closed.

"So what do you want?" Falco asked gazing up at her. Katt tapped her fingers on the armrest in thought.

"So how'd it happen?" she asked. Falco placed his hand on the wound.

"It's none of your business." He replied simply. Katt shook her head.

"You did it again." She stated. Falco didn't reply.

"Does it hurt badly?" she asked. Her voice didn't reveal an ounce of concern. It sounded more of curiosity.

"I'll get over it."

"Like everything else?"

"It's about time you did the same. Don't you think?"

"Yes, just like the cold hearted bastard you are!" No response.

"…Sorry." Katt said after a moment.

"Forget it." Falco replied. Silence again. The two began at the same time, and then stopped, waiting for the other to speak. Katt shrugged and sat back on the sofa again.

"I took a bullet for him. Let's leave it at that." Katt nodded and resumed tapping her fingers on the armrest of the sofa in thought. Falco looked away from her. This was going to last forever. He wasn't going to apologize for the things he said, and he knew she wouldn't either.

"So what do you want?" he asked again. Katt studied him silently for a moment.

"A number of things actually." She began. Falco rolled his eyes, knowing she was going to take full advantage of this moment.

"How about an apology first, little man?" she asked with a wink.

"Yeah, right." He muttered. She glared.

"I'll let that slide _just_ because you're injured." She sniffed. Falco watched her, waiting for her next ridiculous request.

"But I _will_ get that apology, and you have to two thing for me." She said with a grin. That grin reminded him of whenever he played a game with Fox. He'd have that clever and annoyingly smug grin on his face when he knew he was going to win-which he did usually every time.

"And what would that be?" he asked not really wanting to hear the answer. She grinned, smug with the power she had over him.

"If and when we have the free time, you get to take me shopping." She said enjoying the annoyed look on his face.

"Like hell I am!" he replied.

"Yes, you _are_, but don't worry I'll pay for my own things." She said examining her manicured nails as she continued. Falco sighed exasperatedly in defeat. He realized way too late that he was about to fall for it again. "-Just as long as you pay for the dinner after words." And the trap snapped shut.

"I'd rather take another bullet." He replied. Katt glared.

"You can come back in." she called. The doors opened and the four re-entered.

"Well?" Peppy inquired.

"No deal. Find someone else for the job." Peppy sighed exasperatedly.

"Swallow your pride for two seconds in life and realize that we need her." He pleaded.

"Still have the blaster, Krystal?" Falco asked. This time Krystal didn't find humor in the remark.

"Such a kidder as always." Katt grinned.

"Alright, fine. I'll help you all, and Falco," she continued. Falco glared, unwilling to cooperate. "You don't get the choice. You're holding your end of the deal whether you like it or not. I'm on my way Peppy." With that, the screen went blank.

"Man! She has you on a tight leash!" Slippy laughed.

"Come here and say that, frog boy." Falco replied. Slippy cowered behind Fox. Fox grinned.

"It couldn't have been all that terrible…" Krystal reasoned.

"Knowing her, it probably is." Fox said with a small chuckle as he walked over to one of the consoles.

"Alright, let's just wait for Katt to get here, and then we'll see what she thinks about all of this." Peppy explained. Falco ignored Slippy's comments of his upcoming conditional slavery and leaned on the crutch when he stood.

"Do you need any help?" Krystal asked quickly.

"I'm fine." He replied sounding cold when he didn't mean to. The four watched silently as Falco limped out of the room. The doors slid closed behind him.

That's it!!!!!!! R&R!!!!!!!!


	5. Chapter 5

Hi peeps!!!!!!!! Sorry for the wait!!!!!!

Enjoy!!!!!!!

Ch. 5~

Fox silently watched from the console in the hanger as Slippy lowered Falco's arwing in order to make room for Katt's. The pink arwing waited outside of the force field that prevented air escaping the Great Fox. The machinery clanked and hummed as the arwing was lowered onto one of the levitating docs. Peppy sat in the vehicle attached to it, watching to make sure the ship landed safely. Once the arwing was placed onto the dock, Peppy drove it towards the back of the hanger and parked it next to the wall, careful to avoid hitting the wings.

"Alright, you can come on in Katt." He said into his earpiece.

"Will do." She replied. They all watched as the pink arwing flew in and turned in mid-air, sliding perfectly into the available hanger. The grappling arms lowered and locked around the ship's wings. Krystal and Fox were the first to step around the console and head towards the platform that stood next to her arwing. Katt easily leaped over the side of her arwing and landed lightly on the platform with a round suitcase in hand.

"Well, looks like the little man didn't come to welcome me." She sighed theatrically as she walked towards them. The elevator on the side of the platform rose with Peppy riding it. He stepped off and joined the others.

"We're grateful to you Katt." Peppy said to her.

"The least I can do for all of you, and to Falco." She said with a wink.

"Still remember where the briefing room is?" he asked.

"You can show me afterwards." She said passing her suitcase from one hand to the other.

"I'll show you to your room." Krystal said to her.

"We'll met y'all there then." She said. With that, the two girls walked out of the hanger.

---

Falco lay back on his bead, staring up at the ceiling with his hands weaved behind his head. He listened to the footsteps outside in the hallway, hearing two female voices getting closer to his door. Obviously Katt was here. He listened to Katt and Krystal laugh as they passed his door and entered through the one next door—the only guest bedroom available because Amanda was on Zoness helping with the drainage and restoration of the planet. He could remember seeing the state of his home—or at least…what it used to be.

(A/N: If that's wrong my bad! I read it somewhere, and couldn't find it anymore!)

"_I'll go on ahead to the briefing room._" He heard Krystal say in the room next to his.

"_And I'll go make Falco pay for feeling sorry for himself._" Falco looked over at his side table and opened the drawer, frowning when he saw it.

"Krystal…" he muttered before slamming it closed and lying back on the bed.

"Sulking in your room, that's expected." Katt said as she entered the room.

"Go. Away." Falco said without looking at her.

"Is that any way to talk to a girl?" she asked as she took a seat on his bed next to him. Falco still stared up at the ceiling.

"Especially since I'm doing you a favor." She added.

"Shouldn't you be in the briefing room?" he asked now looking over at her.

"I just came to visit _you_ first." She said tapping a pointed finger on his shoulder.

"There's the door." He said nodding towards it. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, and here's the bed." she challenged.

"Which you will be getting off of." He replied. Katt grinned.

"As rude as ever, Falco." She sighed. "I don't think you'll ever change."

"If you regret it, then why did you agree to come here?" he asked annoyed. Katt sighed before placing her hand on the bandaged wound. Falco winced from the jolting pain that erupted throughout his body following the touch.

"This is why." She said removing her hand. Falco clutched the wound, and sat up, trying to calm his breathing. Katt watched him with a sympathetic look.

"I can't stand on the sidelines while you keep getting hurt. Especially with our past." She said looking away from him. Falco leaned back against the wall behind his bed and sighed exasperatedly while he released his wound.

"Get used to the idea, little man, because I'm not leaving." She said getting up from the bed. Just as she began to walk away, Falco suddenly grabbed her wrist. She stopped and looked over at him. He wasn't looking at her.

"What?" she asked startled. Falco let go of her wrist.

"Now we're even." He grinned. Katt glared.

"Not yet." She grinned. Katt walked back over to the bed and placed her hands on Falco's shoulders, pinning him to the bed.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked annoyed. She grinned.

"Getting even." She replied. She stopped when he winced again and released him.

"Annoying little…"

"Rest up!" she called as she walked out the door. "Because we're going shopping later!" Falco rolled his eyes.

"Where's that damn blaster…?"

(A/N: LOL!!!!! Sorry, sorry, last time is use that joke! XD)

---

"I found this on the security cameras on the Great Fox." Peppy explained as he pressed the button on the remote. The four turned to the screen and watched the playback.

"I guess the intruder messing with the camera explains the static." Katt guessed. Peppy nodded.

"You're exactly right." He explained. Katt watched as the screen flipped to the briefing room earlier today. She watched the first few minutes of Fox and Falco playing chess, on a side not that Falco was about to lose. Krystal was sitting in the seat next to Falco reading a book, and Slippy was across from her working on a blue print. Peppy had been sitting at a computer desk separate from the table. Then all, naturally, gazed towards the doors when the doors opened and ROB entered the room. Surprisingly, ROB was in the camera's view…completely. She narrowed her eyes when Falco dove across the table and saved Fox, taking the bullet.

"Wait! Peppy rewind that for me." She said leaning foreword a bit.

"Did you find something?" Krystal asked.

"Rewind it to where?" Peppy asked.

"Where Falco is just diving over the table, and can you slow that down?" Peppy nodded and played it back, waiting for her to explain. Fox was the first to catch on to what Katt was seeing.

"Wait that's-"

"What? I don't see it!" Slippy urged. Then Krystal and Peppy saw it.

"Oh my…" Krystal was speechless.

"Watch the gun in ROB's hand closely!" he said to Slippy. They watched the screen, staring at the same thing: ROB shifting his aim at the last minute at point blank without harming any vital organs. Something only a machine was cape able of.

"That micro chip made ROB shoot Falco on purpose!" Slippy gasped.

"Then that means who ever that was-"

"Was trying to kill Falco!" Krystal said with obvious shock. Katt frowned.

"No, they just wanted to get to him." Katt corrected.

"What?" Fox asked puzzled.

"Peppy said that someone came back and attacked Falco with an aparoid, correct?" she asked. There was silence that followed her question.

"That person didn't come here to kill you, I think, they're after Falco." She concluded. Fox stared.

"This can't be happening…" he growled.

"But don't you worry! I'll protect that little man." She said with a wink. Fox nodded silently. For some reason, those words didn't completely comfort him.

That's it!!!!!!! R&R!!!!!!!


	6. Chapter 6

Hi peeps!!!!! Glad you like it so far!!!!!! I'm excited to continue this fan fic!!!!!!

Enjoy!!!!!!

Ch. 6~

"What do we do now?' Slippy asked.

"We have to protect Falco. For now we'll just have to gather whatever information we can and keep who ever is doing this away from him." Peppy explained.

"Is it dangerous that we allowed Katt to take Falco with her to Corneria?" Krystal asked.

"The enemy won't strike back so soon, and I've already alerted the Bulldog Squadron as to what's going on. So they'll be ok." He explained.

"We have to figure out who's doing this…" Fox said making a fist. Krystal placed her hand on his, in an attempt to comfort him. She frowned, knowing that he was far from comfort right now.

"We'll find out who is doing this and we'll make sure they _never_ get to Falco." She said to him.

"Right." He replied.

---

"Too bad that store's closed today." Katt pouted. Falco rolled his eyes. They sat on the benches in the center plaza of the city. Some children were playing nearby with their ball, laughing and shrieking with excitement as they chased each other around for it.

"You've already got ten bags! What other crap do plan on buying?" he asked annoyed. Katt glared.

"Quit complaining, you'd be carrying them if it wasn't the fact for the crutches." She said leaning back on the bench. "Not to mention you should be using both of them."

"It's just a rib. Not like my leg's broken or anything." He said leaning his head back. Katt shook her head and pulled out her pink cell phone and began pressing multiple buttons on the keypad.

"Who are you texting?" he asked finding nothing else to entertain himself during this ongoing torture.

"Riley. He and his girlfriend are heading to Katina for work." She explained. Falco looked at her confused.

"I thought you two were seeing each other." He replied thinking of the blue cat that was still currently part of Hot Rod.

"Do I sense a bit of relief in that statement?" she asked looking over at him. Falco shook his head.

"Forget it." He sighed. Katt giggled.

"Oh come on! Lighten up, you can't honestly prefer to lie around in a hospital bed all day." She said shoving her phone into her purse.

"You'd be surprised." He replied as he watched her stand with the dozens of bags separated equally in each hand.

"Fine. You mope around while I finish shopping and-" Katt cut off when she caught site of a black car parked on the road a few feet away from them. All of the windows were tinted, preventing anyone to see the passengers from the outside. But the window of the passenger seat behind the driver's seat was lowered slightly. She could see someone on the other side, peering at them with dark sunglasses. By the facial scales, she could tell it was a red lizard. When he realized she was glaring at him, he closed the window, and the car drove off.

"Katt?" Falco called pulling her attention away from the car as it sped off.

"What?" she asked. Falco looked at her confused.

"Why'd you stop?" he asked. Katt shook her head quickly.

"I saw someone wearing the cutest sun dress!" she slickly lied as she grabbed his arm and began to pull on him.

"Fine, just mind the rib!" he said wincing in pain.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she giggled while searching the street for the car. She felt herself tremble slightly. Falco didn't know, and now they were coming for him, who ever _they_ were. They had decided to keep quiet about it for now, as much as she hated it, she couldn't say a word of this until they saw another attempt at Falco.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked annoyed.

"I'm sorry! Come on, it's hot let's get a drink!" she said looping her arm with his and pulling him after her while being careful of his injury. She gazed back and stared when she saw the same car pull up where it once was on the street. Her gaze met with the lizard's sunglasses. He grinned at her before lifting a black cell phone to his ear.

"_Ah_…easy!" Falco said forcing her to slow her pace.

"Oh sorry!" she said quickly. Katt glanced behind them again and glared at the lizard. He grinned when receiving the message. _"Back off, or you'll die!"_

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"Nothing! Can't a girl get excited?"

"Not when they're killing someone!" he barked. Katt continued to tow the wounded avian into town, where it would be crowded. She pulled him around a corner and found herself heading towards a coffee shop.

"I thought you wanted to get a stupid dress." He said as they approached it.

"Cappuccino, want one?" She said glancing around the crowds. She quickly set down her shopping bags next to one of the tables standing outside the shop and pulled out her cell. Falco remained standing, expecting her to once again crazily choose another destination to haul him to.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked her while clutching his wound.

"I'm tired, you can pay for dinner some other time." She winked before calling Peppy. She glanced around nervously for the lizard while the line rang over and over. Since he was sitting in the back seat, there was obviously more than one of them here. It seemed like hours before he picked up.

"Is everything ok?" he asked. Falco looked at her confused when he heard Peppy's voice. She looked up at him while trying to think of a way to speak while keeping Falco unaware.

"No. Falco's being a pain and complaining too much!" she said grinning at him. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, it's always my fault." He muttered.

"Is that the problem?" he asked. She wasn't sure if he was getting what she was saying, but she continued anyway.

"He's attracting unnecessary attention to himself." She added. He glared at her, annoyed by the comment. There was a long pause. During that pause, something dawned on her. If there was more than one of them, there was also the possibility that they could be waiting in space.

"Both of you come straight back, then." He replied.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Falco asked hearing the response. Katt hung up and stood.

"Ok, forget coffee. You heard him! Stop embarrassing your team!" she said as she grabbed his arm again.

"Let go of me!" he said annoyed.

"You're walking too slow! I want to go and try on all my new clothing when we get back!" she said making sure her voice sounded as eager as it was supposed to. She glanced around again for any sign of them being followed while pulling Falco after her. It wouldn't take them long before they got to the hanger, but her main concern was being cornered. She couldn't fight while having to protect Falco, especially in public. Out of nowhere, Falco suddenly pulled back and held her by her elbow.

"What are you-"

"We're being followed." Falco said glancing over his shoulder. Katt looked in the same direction and saw an orange tire dressed in a black suit and sunglasses just round the corner of a building.

"Freak, probably just thought we were someone else." She said pulling him again.

"Katt, what's going on?" he asked stopping her again. Katt gave him the best innocent look she could manage. Don't play dumb, because I know you know what's going on." He said glaring at her. Katt glanced past him, seeing the tiger there again, watching them. Falco sighed exasperatedly.

"What kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time?" Falco asked. Katt looked at him, dumbfounded by the comment.

"What? Why are you just assuming—yeah! Fine, so this guy at a bar—"

"Yeah, that's what I thought." He sighed exasperatedly. A twinge of anger, and the sensation to punch him welled up inside her, but she had to convince him to keep moving somehow.

"He has his stupid henchmen here, and I'm ready to leave now so let's go." She said finally able to pull him after her. Falco narrowed his eyes at her, knowing she was lying to him. He glanced at a window of one of the buildings, seeing the tirger's reflection and saw the reflection nod to him. He pulled Katt, forcing her to slow down and continued walking as they drew closer to the public hanger.

"Just stay calm, because if we go running out of here they're going to get restless." He explained while watching a red lizard walk into a different wing of the hanger. Falco narrowed his eyes again. Were they after him? Although possible, it was unlikely. He didn't exactly have a beef with anyone, and being part of Star Fox, the attention was usually centered on Fox anyway.

"Just load your stupid bags, then we'll go." He said calmly. He could tell she was anxious, something he never thought Katt would display. That in it confirmed his suspicions. Who ever they were, they were coming for him.

"Do you have a gun or something on you?" Falco asked scanning the hanger around them. Katt closed the compartment of her arwing and glanced at him.

"No need." She practically breathed when she saw Bill and two other members of the Bull Dog Squadron walk in. She glanced nervously at Falco when he saw him, then back at Bill.

"Hey Falco! What are you doing here?" he asked casually. She looked away when Falco glanced at her and opened the cockpit.

"Apparently being held against my will." He replied with his gaze still on Katt.

"Uh-oh. I guess that's the price of a girlfriend, right?" he chuckled. Katt fell foreword, hitting her head on the steering at the comment.

"WHAT?" she gasped sitting up quickly.

"Guess again." Falco said calmly. Bill laughed.

"What are you doing here?" Falco asked steeling another suspicious glance at Katt.

"Boring security inspections. Matt and Ben here each owe me a drink, so screw duty." He shrugged. Katt sighed quietly, thankful Bill was playing along and revved her engine.

"Time to go!" she interrupted.

"Man do I feel sorry for you?" he chuckled. Falco rolled his eyes. "Say hi to Fox for me." He said as he began to walk away.

"Yeah, I'll do that." He said looking over at Katt. Falco narrowed his eyes after catching her nervous gaze.

That's it!!!!!! R&R!!!!!!!


	7. Chapter 7

Hi peeps!!!!!! Thanks for all the reviews!!!!!

Enjoy!!!!!!

Ch. 7~

Never in her life had her nerves been so wrecked as they had been then. She even took a long way to get to the Great Fox as a precaution, wasting hours to arrive while claiming that she wanted to see if her navigation picked up any new shopping centers. She and Falco walked in silence through the hanger of the Great Fox. Her bags clattered against her as she walked. She avoided glancing at him, knowing he was on to her. They walked past the corner, and she caved, looking towards the avian. To her surprise, Falco didn't seem to be bothered by anything. He looked calm, collected…relaxed even…

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your wound. You know me, I get excited and its usually down hill from there." She said grinning.

"Hmn." Was his only reply. She looked at him, surprised by the lack of smart mouthing, and total distracted attention span.

"What's up with you?" she asked with a chuckle.

"Those guys were after me weren't they?" he asked calmly.

"Would you stop?" she asked sounding annoyed. Falco looked at her confused. "Yes! I was in trouble and you bailed me out! So you don't have to pay for dinner." She explained. When she looked over at him, he didn't look convinced. She sighed exasperatedly, not knowing how much farther she would have to go to convince him. Katt grinned when it came to her.

"But, you _do_ get to see how everything looks on me, and this time you have to pay attention." She said grabbing his arm again. Falco sighed exasperatedly.

"Hello you two, how was shopping?" Krystal asked from where she waited for them at the opened doors of the hanger.

"Falco was complaining the entire time!" she pouted theatrically. Falco rolled his eyes. Krystal smiled with an apologetic look.

_"Kill me."_ He thought knowing she would hear him with her telepathy. Krystal giggled and watched Katt pull him past her. Her smile melted away once they passed the next set of doors, and they closed after them. She sighed exasperatedly and slowly followed after them. Their worst fears were confirmed. It wasn't one person trying to get revenge on Fox. It was more than that. Probably some type of organization since it had the members, and they wanted Falco. The truth of it dawned on them as a shock. Having Falco unaware of his own life being in danger sickened her, but they were doing this because who ever was after him was being careless, obvious with their moves, just because they think Falco hasn't caught on to them. From what even she could tell, they didn't entirely care if she and the rest of Star Fox were aware or not. She walked through the doors, not really seeing where she was going, and continued thinking on the situation.

"Krystal!" a voice called. It was Fox. Out of nowhere, he placed his hands on her shoulders, stopping her from walking any further. She blinked, finding herself about to run into a wall.

"Oh! Thank you!" she blushed. Fox failed to suppress his laughter.

"I'm sorry, I guess you can apparently walk through walls." He teased. Krystal joined in the laughter despite her embarrassment.

"Thank you. That would have been humiliating." She said as she followed him into the bridge.

"Don't worry." He replied. "Are you ok?" he asked. Krystal nodded.

"I'm worried, about Falco." She admitted. Fox frowned, and when she saw, she regretted ruining the moment that had temporarily erased his cares.

"I really think we should tell him." He said clenching a fist.

"But we won't." Peppy said from his consol.

"Perhaps we should." Krystal said. "This is no different than gambling with someone's life. He should know that someone is coming after him." She reasoned. Peppy sighed exasperatedly.

"But you know why we can't do that." He replied.

"He isn't the type to worry. You know that." Fox said turning to him.

"But he's brash, and always willing to throw himself into a fight!" Peppy added. "As I said before, we'll tell him after that wound heals. If we don't, it would be the same as handing him over to the enemy." Peppy explained. The three looked over at the doors as they opened with Slippy bursting inside.

"You guys! You'll never believe it! It's all over the news!" he said practically out of breath.

"What is?" Krystal asked.

"They're replacing General Pepper!" The three stared at him wide-eyed.

---

Katt and Flaco watched the broadcast from the television screen attached to his wall in his room. The red feline reporter sat at her desk with a stack of papers in her hands while she spoke.

"Tomorrow morning, a new army general will take over General Peppers work. The ceremony will take place from eight o'clock to noon. The military invites all civilians to Corneria tomorrow to welcome the rookie General Chainbrood." The screen turned to a tall middle-aged German shepherd dressed in a military uniform identical to General Pepper's, shaking hands with Bill and other members of the members of the Bulldog Squadron.

"Well that didn't take long. Funeral was yesterday." Katt said to Falco. She looked over at him when she didn't get a response and smiled softly. Falco lay on his side, with one hand clutching his wound, completely asleep. She took the remote and shut off the broadcast before moving closer to Falco.

"You're such a pain." She said softly, resting her forehead on his shoulder. She grinned to herself. "But so worth it too, you know that right?" She sat up and watched him sleep in silence. After a moment, she looked around the room and saw a blanket neatly folded and sitong on the edge of the bed. So as not to disturb him to pull the sheats, she merely spread the blanket over him and frowned when she saw him wince in pain. She sat back down on the side of the bed again and continued to watch him. Once she was convinced he would be able to make it the whole night without painkillers, Katt stood and left the room, turning off the lights on her way out. Katt walked down the hallway, heading for the bridge. She sighed, relieved that for now the stress was over. She looked up at the doors to the bridge and walked in as they slid opened.

"But so soon?" Peppy asked in disbelief. Katt looked from him to the screen, seeing they were still watching the broadcast.

"Katt! Is Falco ok?" Slippy practically blurt out.

"Yeah, he's fine. I probably put him through hell though…" she muttered.

"I really think we should tell him!" Krystal sighed exasperatedly.

"We discussed this already! We can't until he heals!"

"But his arwing isn't even able to fly anyway!" Slippy reasoned.

"Peppy, I really think we have to tell him." Fox said. "What happens when who ever is after him actually gets the opportunity, and he doesn't even know what's going on until its too late?" he demanded before the rabbit could respond.

"You actually thing he's that stupid?" Katt asked calmly. Fox looked over at her confused.

"What? He knows?" he asked. Katt shrugged.

"I don't think he knows exactly, but I know he has an idea. He got suspicious of me before we left." She explained.

"Alright," Peppy sighed. "Since he has an idea, we'll tell him after the ceremony tomorrow." He explained.

"Why tomorrow?" Slippy asked.

"Because I want to see who's after him in person, and we have to take every member anyway." He explained before turning to Katt. "Did you identify what they looked like?" he asked. Katt nodded.

"Only two of them." She explained. Peppy nodded. It wasn't much to go on, but it was enough.

"Tell me everything."

That's it!!!!!!!!! R&R!!!!!!!!


	8. Chapter 8

Hi peeps!!!!!!! I'm glad y'all like it still!!!!!!

Enjoy!!!!!!

Ch. 8~

Another gathering in Corneria took place. To most, it seemed too soon to heal from a wound, but accepted it, as the world seemed to be moving on. A stage had been set up in the center plaza of the city, and there stood the new general. The crowds were gathered in a less uniform fashion in the plaza, watching as the ceremonial proctor took the podium first, with the new appointed General Chainbrood standing next to him.

"Only yesterday, our beloved General Pepper passed on to a better place. Although we have the desire to linger in the present and mourn the loss of the beloved, we must remember that time moves on, and that we must move foreword." He said to the crowds. There was no cheering, only silence that pleaded for more convincing.

"Today, we are honored with our new appointed General. General Chainbrood!" the crowd applauded as welcome to the unfamiliar individual as he took a stand behind the podium.

"I am honored to continue General Pepper's work, and hope that this world will accept me, not as their leader, but as someone who can have your trust." He explained. The crowd applauded again, obviously gaining respect for his words. "This is the time to rebuild, and I will make it my first duty to award the military and all mercenaries that helped destroy the aparoid threat." The soldiers and veterans cheered happily at the idea. "That's right boys! Drinks are on me!" he added. Now they cheered louder.

"Nice guy." Katt said from where she sat on the wooden bench next to Falco.

"I still like General Pepper better!" Slippy sniffed.

"Oh come on, Slippy. You should give him a chance." Krystal said calmly.

"Get used to the idea, because we'll be getting all of our missions from him in the future." Peppy said calmly.

"Doesn't anyone think it's a bit strange that a new general was appointed so fast?" Fox asked.

"Oh not you too!" Krystal said turning to him.

"I'm just saying." Fox shrugged.

"Not like there's anything you can do about it. So just accept it." Falco said simply.

"Alright, keep your thoughts to yourself because he's coming this way." Peppy said to them.

"So this is the famous Star Fox team?" the general asked as he approached.

"It's an honor to meet you General Chainbrood." Peppy said shaking his hand.

"Peppy Hare, you were on the original team." He stated.

"I was. I guess you've done your research." Peppy grinned.

"I have, and this must be James McCloud's son, Fox." He said turning to Fox and shaking his hand.

"I must personally thank you for all of your hard work." He said to him.

"Don't thank me." Fox replied.

"Obviously your Slippy Toad, your father told me all about you." He explained. A brief and awkward silence followed when he didn't shake Slippy's hand.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't really find anything on you, but you're name's Krystal, right?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm filling in for Peppy." She explained.

"She's from Sauria so she isn't exactly listed. I'm Katt Monroe." Katt said stepping foreword with her hand extended. Chainbrood shook her hand.

"You're from one of the side branches of the Cornerian army." He said showing his disapproval.

"Army wasn't my style after all." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yes, it seems you are one with a one track mind." He replied. Katt glared at him in the corner of her eye.

"And you must be Falco Lombardi." He said reaching for Falco's hand. Falco didn't move, giving him an annoyed look. Katt grinned while Peppy glared.

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you." He said recoiling his hand.

"We hope you'll continue General Pepper's work." Peppy replied.

"If you will excuse me, I have other things to attend to." With that, the General walked away from them and over to the group of government officials standing in front of the fountain.

"I'm guessing you didn't like him." Fox said to Falco.

"Not really." He replied.

"He's a jerk." Katt sniffed as she sat back down on the bench next to Falco.

"I think he was alright. Of course, he was rude to you but-"

"I hate him." She interrupted.

"Doesn't matter. You're not the one who has to deal with him for much longer." Falco replied.

"You hate him too! Or where you just defending me?" she sneered.

"Alright! That's enough." Krystal interjected.

"We're going to go walk around." Fox said placing a hand on Krystal's shoulder.

"Motel's around the corner!" Falco called as they walked away.

"Shut up, Falco!" Fox yelled back. Krystal giggled in response. Peppy sneered.

"Isn't Lucy working at the university here?" Katt asked. Peppy nodded.

"I'm going to go have lunch with her, so you two behave." He said to them.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure Falco doesn't do anything stupid." Katt grinned. Falco rolled his eyes. Slippy grinned. Falco watched Peppy in the corner of his eye, seeing a bit of concern on the Rabbit's face as he turned. He glanced at Katt, then Slippy before looking away when their attention was again on him.

"I'm gonna go find Amanda! I'll see you guys later!" Slippy said before moving through the crowds.

"Well I'll be damned." Katt grinned.

"Yeah, she's as annoying as he is."

"No not that." Katt said smoothing out the skirt of her now green sundress. Falco looked over at her, half expecting an insult. "You're the only one on your team that's currently single." She explained.

"Like I care." He replied. Katt sighed.

"It must be so difficult on you." She teased. Falco ignored her and followed the same red lizard walking through the crowds with a cell phone in hand. The lizard met his gaze through his dark sunglasses before disappearing behind a building. He glanced at Katt, seeing she didn't notice because of being distracted by texting away on her pink cellphone. It brought up the question of who she would be having a conversation with, but then he remembered the others that she had been staying with, the X-members of Hotrod.

"So where did you meet that guy again?" he asked nonchalantly. Katt glanced at him.

"What? What guy?" she asked. Falco glanced at her. "The guy with the henchmen?" he hinted.

"Oh! I told you, I met him at a bar. Why do you ask?" Damn…same explanation. He was hoping she had forgotten so he could catch her in the lie.

"Curious, I guess." He shrugged. Katt glanced around at the crowd for any sign of the two that had been following them yesterday, but she saw no one. What she was worried about, was that they had decided to spend the entire day here, more like forced to…Katt stared at the text message on the small screen of her phone, reading the first sentence of Peppy's text message over and over, until it was glued in her mind.

_"Do you see anyone suspicious in the crowds? Lucy and I are in the café around the corner, but I can still see you two."_ She glanced at Falco, seeing him staring over at the General Chainbrood who was talking to one of the members of the Bull Dog Squadron. She watched the new General as well, buying time to think of how to respond to Peppy's text. She narrowed her eyes when she saw the General glance over at Falco as he pulled his attention away from them. Another feline moved with her husband, revealing Bill standing with the General as well. He also glanced at Falco and nodded to what ever the general had asked. Katt looked away from them and replied.

"There's a sale at a boutique here!" she said enthusiastically.

"Don't even think about it." He said glaring at her.

"Oh come on! You know it was a lot of fun!" she said before glancing at her phone when it vibrated.

"Yeah, you pulling me and practically ripping open my stitches was refreshing. I'll pass." He said heavy with sarcasm. Katt rolled her eyes and read the message.

_"Stick close to Falco. I just saw Leon Powalski walking towards the Plaza. He'll pick a fight with Falco in a heartbeat, divert him somewhere and fast!"_

Katt looked up, scanning the crowded plaza. She saw the lizard walking alone through the crowd.

"Too bad! I need sunglasses and you get to help!" she said grabbing his arm.

"Would you let go of me already?" he asked annoyed.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself and let's go shopping!"

"How much crap do you-" Katt paused when he suddenly paused, staring into the crowd. Katt's heart skipped a beat. Did Falco see him? Just as she gazed in the direction, she heard the crowd screaming before actually seeing them disperse into random panicked directions.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Falco said before taking out his blaster. Katt stared.

"HA, HA, HA! I KNOW YOU'RE HERE FOX!" The swine stood there. The swine that should have died. He stood there with a machine gun, his face was completely disfigured, not to mention parts of his large body.

"You can't fight him! You're injured!" Katt said sternly. Falco ignored her.

"My rib's busted, not my leg!" before she could move to stop him he abandoned the crutch and moved to crouch behind a statue.

"Damn it!" Katt cursed before crouching behind a different statue and grabbing her own blaster. She peered around the statue and froze when she saw Leon retreat into the ally nearby with a grin on his face. Peppy was right around the corner, and the army would assemble soon. Katt sighed exasperatedly and chased after Leon, ignoring that she dropped her purse just outside the ally.

Pigma continued to wildly fire around the area, hitting anything nearby.

"FOX! COME ON OUT! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!" he screamed. Pigma cried out in pain when a laser hit his left leg.

"You do realize the entire military is here right now, don't you?" a familiar voice asked. The pig spun around and saw him, grinning an insane toothy grin.

"HA! YOU'LL PAY TOO!" he said as he prepared to fire the gun. Falco dodged the dozens of bullets that were fired at him and shot another laser. Pigma cried out in pain again before pointing the machine gun at him again. Falco dodged again, ignoring the pain of his lower rib and charged the laser, ready to take out his other leg.

"I'LL USE YOU AS A HOSTAGE!" he yelled before pulling the trigger again. Falco didn't bother dodging, expectantly hearing the satisfactory click of an empty gun. He released the red laser, and took out Pigma's other leg. Pigma cried out in pain from both his gushing legs as he attempted to crawl away. Falco held the blaster ready.

"Don't make me take your arms out!" he said sternly. Pigma glared furiously.

"I'M GONNA' MAKE YOU SCREAM REAL GOOD BOY!" he screamed out of nowhere.

"Falco!" he heard Fox call. Falco glanced at the vulpine as he and Krystal made their way over with Bill and a few other members of the Bull Dog Squadron.

"Are you alright?" Krystal asked quickly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Falco asked tossing the blaster to Fox.

"You finish him." He said as Peppy and Lucy arrived.

"Pigma?" he gasped.

"Later, Bill you take care of him and we'll take care of what's going on here!" Fox said to him as he returned Falco his blaster. Bill nodded.

"You got it!" he said before grabbing his gun and moving in with two other of his teammates.

"You guys!" Slippy called as he and Amanda hurried over to them. "There are aparoids everywhere!" Slippy said quickly.

"What? Why is this happening?" Fox gasped.

"Wait, where's Katt?" Krystal asked noticing the feline's absence. Falco looked around quickly, searching for any sign of her. His eyes fell upon her purse abandoned on the ground outside an ally.

"Damn…" He muttered before charging after her.

"Wait Falco!" Fox called. Before he could chase after him, a huge blue aparoid stepped in his way, charging a blast in its mouth.

"Move!" Krystal yelled.

Katt ran up the stairs and knelt down against the wall next to the doorframe, seeing Leon pull out a rifle from underneath his overcoat.

"Now to deal with the bird." She heard him chuckle. She charged up the laser of her gun and stepped foreword.

"Put the gun down!" she ordered. Leon looked back at her and grinned.

"I don't think so." He replied.

"I said-" before she could finish her sentence, she felt something hard and cold strike her, knocking her face first onto the roof. Her body wouldn't respond to her, and her vision began to blur. The last thing she saw, was a black and yellow robotic leg stepping inches away from her shoulder, then it was dark.

That's it!!!!!!!! R&R!!!!!!!


	9. Chapter 9

Hi peeps!!!!!! Very inspired right now!!!!!!!

Enjoy!!!!!!

Ch. 9~

"They just keep multiplying!" Krystal said as she continued firing at the dozens of aparoids swarming the plaza. The civilians screamed as they ran away in sheer panic.

"Shouldn't they be dead right now?" Lucy asked as she fired one of the large blue aparoids with her gun.

"That's impossible! Falco shot both of his legs!" they heard Bill gasp.

"DIE!"

"Fox!" Krystal screamed. Fox dodged the laser of Pigma's gun and shot at him again. Pigma stumbled back and growled. Fox's eyes widened when he saw a small pink and black aparoid crawl along Pigma's chest.

"It's controlling him!" he gasped.

"Right. Everyone just aim for the aparoids!" Peppy said to them. Fox obeyed, hitting the aparoid on Pigma's chest. It tumbled along the grass before falling into dozens of pieces. Then another took its place on Pigma's chest.

"They just keep coming!" Slippy called.

"Everyone move!" Amanda suddenly yelled. Their eyes settled on her for confirmation, then all ran from the plaza as the purple frog thrust the grenade at the huge amount of aparoids. The grenade exploded, wiping out every aparoid that stood in the plaza, and unfortunately taking out the fountain and statues as well.

"That did it!" Fox said as the flames dispersed.

"We can't waste any time!" Peppy called. Fox looked over at him and nodded.

"Right! I'll go help Falco!" he called back.

"I'll go with you!" Slippy said already running to join him. Fox turned, ready to chase after his ace pilot and froze when he saw Leon standing on the roof of the nearest building with a rifle. He instantly dove to the ground and heard the laser hit the grass behind him.

"Fox!" Slippy called. Fox shot to his feet, blaster in hand, and charged for the building. He dodged Leon's attacks as he wondered to himself, why was Star Wolf here? He glanced around and frowned, noting the absence of Wolf and Panther. He dodged another attack and looked up at Leon, he stared wide-eyed when he saw Falco and Leon fighting over the rifle.

"Falco!"

---

"Let go of the rifle bird!" Leon growled. He and Falco had their hands locked on the rifle, struggling to rip it from each other's grip.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded. Leon grinned.

"I'm hunting foxes!" he chuckled bitterly. Falco instantly slammed his skull against Leon's. Leon rebounded and moved his leg to trip him, but Falco was faster. He used the rifle to shove Leon back against the low wall at the edge of the roof. Leon gritted his teeth as he struggled to keep his spine from cracking.

"What's the matter? Did Wolf kick you out or something, Lizard?" Falco asked as he forced Leon to lean further over the wall. Leon grinned.

"I am superior to that _dog_! So get out of my way!" he said before shoving his knee against Falco's rib. Falco cried out in pain, loosing his grip on the rifle. Leon took the opportunity and slammed the butt of his rifle against the side of Falco's skull. Falco fell back on the roof as Leon stood over him, reaching to grab him. Falco instantly grabbed the blaster from his belt and pointed it at the lizard. Leon pointed his rifle. The two stayed in that position for a short while, both glaring with bitter hatred and itchy fingers. Blood rolled from the side of his skull and dripped on the ground underneath him.

"You're not working alone." Falco flatly stated.

"And how would you know that?" he asked tightening his grip on the rifle. Falco glared.

"You're the one who tried to kill Fox." He growled. Leon looked at him confused.

"But you failed." Falco said with a slight grin. His grin melted away when Leon suddenly grinned.

"No, that tin can did exactly what I wanted it to do, now You're—DEFENSELESS!" Leon yelled while kicking the blaster from Falco's hands. Before Falco could reach for the gun, Leon shoved his foot against his wound. Falco again cried out in pain and grabbed Leon's foot.

"Y-You bastard!" he winced as Leon removed his foot and he clutched his wound. Leon grinned.

"You're lucky I'm not allowed to kill you." He chuckled. Falco looked up at him surprised.

"What are you—" He inhaled sharply, stifling another cry of pain when Leon again kicked him.

"Shut up." Leon said tossing his rifle aside and reaching something in his coat's pocket. "As ordered, I'll take you unconscious." He grinned as he took out a long needle with red liquid in the glass reservoir. Falco cringed in pain when Leon pinned him down with his foot against his rib while he brought the needle down towards him. He paused and looked up before dodging a thin blue laser by merely cocking his head to the side.

"Get away from Falco or I'll _kill_ you!" it was Katt's voice. Falco grabbed Leon's ankle, but Leon pressed harder as he spoke. "You'll kill me, will you?" he asked obviously amused. Katt glared with her blaster pointed at the lizard.

"Get off of him!" she called. Leon calmly flicked the syringe of the needled, ignoring the feline's threats as a drop of the red liquid appeared on the tip.

"Get off you bastard!" Falco said locking his hand around Leon's wrist, struggling to keep the needle from piercing his neck. Leon again dodged the laser Katt shot at him and glared up at Katt.

"You're annoying." He stated before snatching a small black device from his other coat pocket. He pressed one of the many buttons on it before sliding it back into the pocket. Falco heard a distinct beep from his pocket, indicating that he had pressed another button from the device.

Katt froze when a huge purple aparoid landed in front of her. She quickly dodged the blast flying from its mouth and charged her blaster. She fired, and downed the creature without hesitation.

"Falco?" she called fearful of the sudden silence. She froze when she saw a giant ship pull in towards the roof she was kneeling on now. Its long wings knocked down all of the high-rise buildings, and its engines were somehow dead silent. The ship was completely black with dark purple painted wings. It looked as though cities had been built on the surface. She couldn't count the dozens of towers rising from it. The side opened, releasing a pitch-black ship resembling an arwing lower towards them. Her eyes darted to Falco and froze when she saw Leon walking towards it with an extremely unconscious Falco thrown over his shoulder.

"Falco!" she called. She fell foreword on the ground, clutching her now gushing shoulder and glared furiously at Leon. Her blaster rolled across the roof, towards the arwing. Leon tossed Falco's blaster away and lowered Falco into the arwing before climbing into the piloting seat himself.

Katt curled up into a ball, clutching her wound and listened in defeat as the huge ship took off. She gritted her teeth and dug her nails into her arm as tears of frustration rolled down her cheeks.

"…Falco…!" she muttered over and over.

"Katt!" she heard Fox call. Katt didn't move, she just stayed, as she was, frustrated and helpless.

Fox knelt next to Katt as he watched the ship take off. He saw the blood on the ground, his eyes stayed on Falco's blaster for a long time, knowing his worst fears were confirmed. He made a fist and glared at the ship as it took off into the atmosphere.

"Fox, Lucy, Slippy, Krystal and Amanda are persuing the ship now! How are Falco and Katt?" Peppy asked from the communicator. Fox glanced at Katt and made a fist.

"Falco's been kidnapped! Tell them to hurry up!" he replied before placing a hand on Katt's arm.

"If we don't go now and help, they'll get away with him!" he said to her. Katt still didn't move. Fox noticed the large amount of blood on the ground around her. He studied her shoulder, seeing the wound gushing with blood.

"Peppy, Katt needs medical attention!" he said into his communicator before scooping Katt off of the ground.

"Hang on just a bit longer!" Fox said to her as he ran for the door. He glanced down at her when he heard her muttering something over and over. By the third time he understood what she was saying.

"…Falco…"

That's it!!!!! R&R!!!!!!!!


	10. Chapter 10

Hi peeps!!!!! ^^; I have no excuse for the excruciating wait you've had so… *Hides*

Enjoy!!!!!

Ch. 10~

The ship sailed through the atmosphere, pursued by four different ships, much smaller and quickly gaining speed.

"Aim for its wings! That should slow them down!" Amanda called. The rest obediently opened fire; silently agreeing that allowing it to escape was not an option.

"Damn it! It has a force field!" Lucy cursed.

"We have to do something! We can't allow them to take Falco!" Krystal said holding her controls in fists.

"Spread out and see if you can break it from somewhere!" Lucy said after a moment of mere pursuit. The smaller ships fanned out around the larger one, searching for its weak spot.

"Fox, Peppy, We're in pursuit now. Get up here as quickly as you two can!"

"Katt's too wounded! We have another plan," Peppy began. Krystal frowned. "Steer clear because we're going to use the Great Fox to rip through the force field!"

"What?" Slippy gasped.

"But what if it hits the ship? We'd be putting Falco in danger!" Lucy said quickly.

"Move in the moment you have the opportunity! Falco's already in danger."

"Alright." Krystal said reluctantly.

"Got it." Amanda and Lucy replied.

"I hope Falco's ok!" Slippy whimpered.

"Stay focused! We have to stop them!" Lucy called to the rest. The ships spread further from the larger one as the Great Fox came into view.

---

"Enjoy the cage, _bird_." Leon chuckled before slamming the door behind him. Falco lay on the floor in the center of the small cell, clutching his wounds and curled. His entire body surged with pain, enough that he didn't have the voice to cry out in pain.

Where were they taking him? Why were they taking him? What had happened when he had lost consciousness? What had that stuff Leon injected done to him? Were Fox and the rest ok? What about Pigma? The real question was; what was going to happen now?

Falco opened his eyes to see the dimly lit cell around him. The only light came from the hallway outside the door, bleeding through the various cracks in the door. By the looks of it, this ship was old, not to mention badly taken care of. He slowly brought his hand to his skull, flinching when he touched the cut just above his left eye. Pain jolted through his skull and he flinched a second time. He had to get out, but breaking down the door was easier said then done. He could barely move now. That bastard of a lizard just had to throw a few volts of electricity into his body, didn't he?

Falco exhaled and slowly slid his hands beneath his torso and pushed himself off of the ground. He found his voice and grunted in pain from the pain of his joints. There was no way he could stand. So instead, he dragged himself over to the wall and leaned back against it, panting from the realization that he had sapped his own energy.

---

Fox steered his arwing through the atmosphere. He held his controls in stressed and anxious fist. The adrenaline rushed, and his heart pounded in his chest.

"Just hang on, Falco." He muttered to himself. He could see the ship that had taken Falco, and the arwings attacking it. He opened fire when he was close enough and steered around the return fire from the ship itself. It had an archaic style of cannons along the sides of the hull, firing large purple lasers at the fortunately much faster arwings. He steered around a line of lasers and glanced at the parts. Doubt clouded his mind. What if he hit wherever Falco was being kept? Sure he wouldn't cut through with the first hit but still… No, they would cut off the ship's route and disable the engines. Fox steered towards one of the wings and opened fire at the joint.

"Krystal, can you sense Falco at all?" Slippy's voice called over the radio. Fox listened, wanting to know the same answer.

"Yes…I sense that he's in pain," Fox's fists shook with fury. "We must hurry. Avoid firing at the hull!"

"Got it." Fox replied as he directed his attention to the next wing while the other detached with a series of explosions.

"Aha! There you are!" Fox stiffened. He knew that voice.

"Leon you bastard! Return Falco to me!" he demanded. The lizard chuckled as he moved to flank and open fire. Fox avoided the first few lasers, but unfortunately he took a hit.

"Sorry, but Falco belongs to us now."

"Us?" Slippy called.

"What does Star Wolf want with him?" Fox demanded as he fired back at the lizard.

"Ha! I no longer need that dog!" he spat.

"Wait, so you're not with Star Wolf anymore?" Slippy asked.

"So what the hell do you want with him?" Amanda barked.

"Heh. You idiots won't be alive long enough to know what I've said."

"Big mistake Leon," Fox said as he looped his arwing over Leon's, now flying behind the lizard. "You should have stayed loyal to Wolf, or else your engines wouldn't be burning you!"

"Ha! Me burn? Or will it be your little bird?" A chill ran up and down his spine, furry swept throughout his entire being. Fox instantly flipped his arwing and slammed it into Leon's, knowing it would force both of them damage to their wings. "AGH! DAMN YOU! YOU STUPID FOOL!"

"Fox!" Krystal gasped.

"Keep Leon here! I'm going to get Falco!" Fox called to them.

"Roger!"

"You got it!"

"Ha! I'd love to see you try."

---

Falco cried out in pain from slamming the cut on the side of his head against the wall next to him in his cell. The ship was shaking violently; obviously Fox and the rest weren't holding back, were they? The unfortunate thing was that his cell consisted of a metal door instead of bars. He didn't have anything to hold onto when this ship expectantly crashed. He gazed back at the door of his cell, knowing that he had to get out. Now if that were possible that would have been something. Falco slowly pulled himself to his feet, holding the wall as the ship rocked a second time. What the hell were fox and the rest doing?

Falco quickly looked up at the ceiling when he heard sirens coming from the speakers.

"_**WARNING. WARNING. SUFFICIENT DAMAGE DETECTED TO THE LEFT WING. EMERGENCY REPAIRS ARE REQUIERED.**_"

"Damn it…" he cursed. Falco moved to the door and slammed his fist against the door to his cell. "Open the door damn it!" he yelled. He stopped when he heard someone yelling on the other side.

"Oh shit! That laser's going to strike the hull!" Falco's eyes widened.

"What the hell was that Leon guy thinking?" another voice gasped.

"_**WARNING. WARNING. MAIN HULL HAS BEEN LOCKED ON BY ENEMY SHIP. 67% POSSIBILITY OFENGINE DESTRUCTION DETECTED.**_"

"You two! Move the prisoner!" a third voice called. Falco backed from the door, feeling his entire body trembling. What should he do? If he struggled or wasted any time, he'd die along with the rest of his captors, but if he went with them… The cell around him rocked, and he was thrown against the wall and again he cried out in pain before sinking back into a state of unconsciousness.

---

"Dad, what the hell are you doing?" Lucy gasped.

"It's not me! They must have tampered with the controls. I can't stop the beam!" he called back.

"Then shift the aim! You're going to kill Falco!" Fox called desperately.

"Ha! Say goodbye to your beloved pilot Fox!" Leon chuckled.

"Shut up!" Slippy called before firing. Leon easily dodged around and steered away from the battle.

"Hey! Get back here!" Amanda called.

"No wait!" Fox called. Every single one of them fell silent as the enormous beam of the Great Fox shot through space, piercing through the enemy ship's hull. It's engine's burst and the metal groaned.

"FALCO!" Fox yelled.

"No…!" Krystal gasped.

"This…this can't be!" Peppy gasped. The enemy ship exploded. Silence followed, and no one said anything. The shock had silenced them. Fox stared blankly at his controls. He shook violently and let himself fall foreword on his controls.

"FOX!" he heard Krystal call to him. He shut his eyes tightly.

"Fox!" three other voices echoed. Fox clenched a fist. He let it happen. He let Falco die!

"_He's having a panic attack!_"

"_Hey, you still alive, kid?"_

"…Falco?"

"_Don't push yourself, just take it a step at a time."_

That's it!!!! Yes, it's gonna' go into a flashback in case ya'll are wondering. Yes, I'm going to continue this at long last and I apologize for all that time but you all really want this to go on so don't worry I will finish!!!!!


	11. Chapter 11

Hi peeps!!! Remember: we went into a flashback!!!!!! Sorry for that wait!!!!!! If this isn't accurate about Zoness, my bad!!!!

Enjoy!!!!!!

Ch. 11~

"…Falco?" Fox mumbled.

"Yeah, I'm here." Fox slowly opened his eyes, seeing first the view of the gorgeous beaches of Zoness behind the large glass windows. He could see the various beach goers bellow, enjoying their day, going about their business. He pulled his gaze away from the moving postcard and saw Falco, sitting at the desk standing next to the bed with his feet propped up on the corner with a book in his lap. He noticed Falco was wearing a long sleeved white leather jacket with a red scarf wrapped loosely around his neck, over a dark red combat suit with a pair of black combat boots and a very familiar signature belt buckle with the Star Fox emblem. Peppy must have gotten the uniform in sooner then he thought. Fox's eyes lingered on the cast bound around Falco's arm. A strap was slung around the side, keeping his arm bent.

"What happened?" he mumbled. Falco reached for the desk, lifting up the bookmark and sliding it between the pages before he placed it on the desk.

"You crashed, stupid." He said with a small chuckle. Fox winced as he sat up.

"I did? So what's with the broken arm?" Fox asked. Falco shrugged his opposite shoulder.

"You were going to take out the radio tower of the base. I assumed that your little team wouldn't be able to pay the bill so I rammed you out of the way." He explained. Fox stared.

"My arwing ok?" he asked. Falco smirked a little.

"Define 'ok'." Fox looked away chuckling a bit.

"Hey, you're part of this team too now." Fox corrected. Falco looked away from him.

"Yep." He sighed as he sat up right, wincing a little as he leaned foreword to place his feet on the ground.

"You ok?" Fox asked.

"Just worry about yourself." He replied as he moved his gaze towards the window. Fox looked away and sighed exasperatedly.

"Thanks, Falco." He said now staring out window as well.

"You can relax," Falco said completely ignoring his gratitude. "Those guys didn't follow us into the atmosphere. I guess they figured out the fact that there are bases everywhere on this planet and would be outnumbered." Fox nodded.

"Good." He replied. That was Falco. All business. Could he really make that claim? He hadn't known Falco very long… Two months ago he joined Star Fox, replacing the hole in their team Bill had created. Getting promoted in the military made it obvious that he'd take the job. In all honesty, their missions were a lot less stressful with Falco around. The soldiers on his tail were suddenly gone the minute he was about to address the situation, tanks were taken down a lot faster, and simple matters were accomplished much faster.

Honestly, from their first encounter with Falco while he led Hot Rod to this last mission, he hadn't really learned much about him. The only things he knew about Falco Lombardi were that he was an exceptional pilot, used to lead Hot Rod, and that he was a member of that small population that didn't like coffee. Maybe it was just his curious nature, but he liked knowing all he could about his teammates. It was disappointing because he wanted to know more about him, but Falco wasn't Peppy, and certainly not Slippy. He accepted the fact that Falco had his own privacy, but still…

"Unless you can manage to fly two arwings, I don't think we can work any time soon." Falco said calmly. Fox looked back at him and nodded.

"Yeah, you're right." He replied. Well this was awkward. He stole a glance at Falco, surprised to see him back in the same position, with his feet propped on the desk and the book once again in hand. There was something to add to the list; Falco was deathly quiet. It made sense for someone like him to depend upon stealth until it became second nature. Fox shook his head. He was doing it again. Analyzing every little thing. What was that old saying his dad used to say to him? Curiosity killed something…

"Yes?" Falco asked. Fox blinked back to reality, realizing he had been staring at the poor guy.

"Oh, nothing!" he stuttered. "What are you reading?" he asked.

"Had nothing better to do with my time so Peppy lent me this." He replied. Fox glanced at the thick novel. Probably some analysis of some war from Peppy's generation that would be ancient history to him. He hated reading. There were things he would rather do with his time, but he couldn't deny that he was envious. That was one thing he left off. Falco liked reading. Something he and Peppy had common ground on. Well, at least he and Slippy didn't find any common ground yet. "Do you miss him?" Fox looked at him confused. Falco nodded to the book.

"There's a note on the corner of the page. You're dad was 'James M.' right?" Fox froze. Peppy had never told him about that…

"What does it say?" Falco glanced at him before looking back at the note.

"I was able to get your book back. Gotta say, I hated this book. The characters suck and I hate that the main guy dies at the end. You read the most depressing shit. Too bad writing on your page corners is the only way we can communicate." Fox looked away. What was that? "Every corner of the pages have notes on them." Falco explained. "I guess this is from when they had been captured." Fox held the sheets in fists. He jumped when the book suddenly landed on his lap.

"Don't get sentimental on me, _Foxy_."

"_Ugh_, did he write down that idiot nickname in—" Fox cut off when realization kicked in. "Did you just tease me?" he asked. Falco gave a small smirk. Fox smiled a little and flapped open the ancient book. "Don't you want to finish the rest of this book first?" Fox asked.

"I already did. I was reading the embarrassing notes about you this time." He said shrugging the same shoulder. Fox flapped the book closed.

"That's not fair." Fox replied.

"Then what do you want to know, Foxie?"

---

Falco remained silent as the two Dobermans lead him down a hallway. His hands were cuffed behind his back, a tracking device had been strapped around his ankle and the bullet wound had been stitched for him. He was exhausted. Yes, he understood the severity of his situation, but he was so damn tired. He'd rather go back to his cell and just let himself pass out then have to go and familiarize himself with the person who was behind his kidnapping. He wasn't sure how they did it, but he could recognize the fact that this wasn't the same ship he had been taken on.

They approached a pair of large metal doors with a pair of lizards standing on either side, each equipped with machine guns. The one on the left nodded to one of the Dobermans as the doors slid opened. He instantly saw the windshield of the bridge. He felt some relief that he spotted Sector Y glimmering in the distance as they directed him. They weren't as far from Corneria as he had originally thought. They lead him to a desk with the chair behind it turned with its back turned towards them, hiding who ever sat on it.

He glanced at one of the Doberman as they dragged a chair over.

"Sit hostage!" Falco cried out from the pain surging from his bullet wound when he was pushed down.

"RILEY!" the one sitting in the chair's voice boomed. The Doberman that pushed him down jumped. Falco winced and looked back at the desk, finding himself looking at the back of the tall chair.

"S-Sorry sir!" the Doberman stuttered.

"No, it's my fault really. I thought I had hired someone intelligent enough to follow simple orders." The voice said calmly. "Mr. Lombardi, please excuse this rather rough welcoming." They said as they turned in their chair. Falco's eyes widened, meeting those all too familiar dark eyes, eyes that almost matched the fur. "I assure you, _Mr_._ Lombardi_, you may be at ease because you will not be harmed while in my care." Rage built within him, seeing the man behind the desk, staring back with a sick gaze full of hunger.

"Y-You…!" They smirked.

"You are our guest, and I have a great purpose for you. Would you care to hear it?"

That's it!!!!!! I know I took SOOOOOOO long!!!!!! R&R!!!!!


	12. Chapter 12

Hi peeps! Sorry for the wait! I have no excuse other than my computer crashing, so yeah…

Enjoy!

Ch. 12~

He stared blankly at the ceiling from where he sat on the floor, leaning back against the wall behind him. Hi could hear Slippy weeping from his room. He gazed over at his door, seeing it was still wide open. Peppy was trying to console him and he couldn't hear Krystal anywhere. For that matter, he couldn't hear Kat anywhere either. He wondered if Peppy had told him yet. Fox gritted his teeth and slammed a fist against the wall behind him. Why had he been so weak? Why had he let this happen?

Fox let out a breath and stood, walking out into the hallway; he gazed down towards the bridge, seeing Peppy standing at the controls with a bottle of whiskey present on the counter next to him. No point in trying to take it away from him. They had their own ways of dealing with it. Fox looked away and headed further down the hallway until he came to the last door. His hands shook as the door slid open. The last time he came here, _he_ was sitting on the floor, tuning up his already ridiculously powerful blaster. Hyping up the firing speed or capacity it could hold with new mags, making him even more jealous. But he wasn't there. Pieces of his blaster weren't scattered about the floor, the blueprints to the blaster weren't lazily sprawled out on the floor for him to see while he worked. More notably, Slippy wasn't there lecturing him about screwing up the weapon.

Fox entered the room, looking around at the vastly empty room. Filled with objects reflecting the limited interests he would let the world see. A stack of books sat on the bookshelf above the headboard of his bed with that Geno shaped bookend he had given him for his birthday a few years ago. On the opposite side of his room was the small closet containing his clothes and boots. The only thing absent was his uniform… Other than that, there really weren't many other signs of interests. Fox walked over to the bed, staring out the window as they glided by Venom. The smog infested atmosphere seemed to be fading. Little by little the planet became more and more visible with every time they passed by. It was once the place where _he_ had followed, gunning down the army and helping clear the way to Andross himself. Fox looked down at the bed, seeing his father's journal sitting on the bed. He made a fist and shoved it off. The journal landed with a small, single thud, breaking the silence for only a second. Fox's brows pulled together, he fought the tears and climbed onto the bed, lying down on Falco's bed and stared out the window. He was gone. Falco was gone. He was never going to come back through that door and-he could hear Kat crying next door. Fox curled up into a ball and gave in.

"_Damn it_…Falco…"

He could cope with deaf silence. Honestly it never bothered him. He sat back against the wall of his cell, ignoring the guards banging their rifles against the bars, harassing the various other prisoners because they had seemingly nothing else to do. What surprised him was that he wasn't their only prisoner. There were cells lined up in the enormous room. Some stacked, while others were randomly spread out. Looking around, he counted more than fifty just on the floor level. He was in a cell with two others. It didn't give him any comfort that the dog just stared blankly out of the cell without having said a single word the past five hours, and the cat was lying on the opposite, limp and unmoving. Everyone within this enormous room was silent other than the guards laughing at their own sick entertainment.

If every prisoner in here had been drugged with something, he had yet to be exposed to it himself. He winced from the jolting pain of his wound as he shifted against the wall.

"Hey bird!" he heard one of the guards call. He shot them an icy glare as they approached the door to his cell. One of them took out a key card as two more approached with what he assumed was another prisoner when he heard the sound of chains rattling.

"Hehe. You're gonna' love your knew cell mate!" another guard chuckled. Falco looked away, ignoring them.

"You two! Get up!" one of the guards bringing another prisoner barked. The dog in his cell jumped and trembled with fear. The cat still had yet to move. "Come on now!"

The dog stumbled to his feet and walked out of the cell, while the cat still lay there.

"Oh I see. Get the corpse out of here." Falco watched in the corner of his eye as one of the guards picked up the limp body, throwing it over their shoulder and walked back out of the cell. Then the two guards came in with their prisoner, unchaining him and slamming the cell door behind him. Falco froze. Fox? No…it looked like him though. The fox shot a glare at the guards as they left before walking over to the poor excuse of a bed and lying down. Falco looked away from him as he heard the doors to the room slide closed.

"Your so young." The fox said after a moment. Falco didn't look at him. He didn't care what anyone thought. Most likely none of these people were themselves anymore anyway. "How'd you manage to get yourself mixed up with all of this?"

"Worry about yourself." Falco replied simply.

"Hmph. Just try not to scream." Falco gazed at him in the corner of his eye again. The fox tossed off his tattered leather jacket before lying down with his back to him. Falco's eyes widened when he saw the enormous and dried up gash traveling diagonally across his back. "They'll increase your hours." _Hours of torture._ "So who is it I'm stuck with this time?" Falco wrapped his arms around his legs and leaned his head back against the wall.

"Does it matter?"

"Well, incase one of us manages to get out of here alive maybe we can pass it on to relatives." Falco was getting irritated. He didn't want to hear any of this optimist crap.

"Uh, you do realize who it is who's in charge of all of this, right?" he asked letting his irritation ring out in his voice. The fox didn't look at him.

"Yep. Hard to believe isn't it?" Falco glared at the back of the fox's head.

"Oh yeah? You know something about all this, buddy?" The fox didn't respond right away.

"More or less." Falco stared. Was he mocking him?

"So tell me." Falco said impatiently.

"Why would I tell someone when I don't even know their name?" Falco looked away.

"Forget it." Falco grumbled before looking away. There was a long awkward silence fell between them, what was worse, was that Falco knew the bastard was just waiting for him to give in. He was stubborn enough to keep this up all night.

"I'd offer you the bed, since you're wounded but I'm still dizzy from the blood loss. If you want to rotate let me know."

"I'll pass."

"You're Falco, aren't you?" he asked after a long pause. Falco stared. How could he have known that?

"Who the hell are you?" Falco asked sternly. The fox still didn't move.

"Yeah, I remember seeing you while I was on my way out of Venom." Falco stared. "Peppy and Slippy were there too. Slippy's grown."

"What the hell are you getting at?" Falco demanded. "Who the hell are you?" Why was it that this guy knew him? Or Slippy or Peppy even?

"What? Fox never showed any of you a picture of me?" He asked finally rolling onto his back and gazing over at him. Falco got a better look of his face, and then all together, he knew what he was about to be told. "Then again, I always have sunglasses on." He said moving his gaze to the bars of the cell. Falco looked away from him.

"You're James, aren't you?"

"Yep, that's me."

"And I really was speaking to Andross just now?"

"Yep, domesticating Aparoids makes it easy to use the core memories. That's why he has a brand new body, and why I'm still here."

That's it! HAHA didn't see that coming! R&R!


	13. Chapter 13

Hi peeps! Sorry for the wait!

Enjoy!

Ch. 13~

Peppy was silent as the rest of the members of Star Fox slowly entered the bridge, one after another at their own pace. Krystal was the first, her face still tear stained and her eyes downcast. Slippy entered thirty minutes later, still wailing with grief that only worsened the situation of their attempt at bravery. Amanda sat next to him, trying to comfort him. Lucy stood next to Peppy, quickly whipping away the tears that escaped. About an hour later, Katt entered claiming she couldn't decide on what shade of makeup with the presence of alcohol on her breath. Another long hour of bitter silence and Slippy's hopeless weeping passed before Fox finally entered. All eyes were on him, awaiting their orders.

"What?" He asked simply. His eyes were on Peppy. Peppy frowned, looking down at the ground.

"I wanted all of you to be here for this." Peppy began, his voice cutting through the thick silence after Slippy had finally quieted down. "There is a time and place to mourn for Falco, but this is not it." Fox looked away from Peppy, already beginning to turn towards the door.

"Fox!" Krystal called, stopping him.

"Why the hell should I take anymore missions?" Fox demanded furiously. The rest fell into stunned silence. Peppy sighed exasperatedly.

"Because what happened to Falco will happen to everyone else if we don't do anything!" Lucy explained.

"What the hell am I expected to do? I let one of my own die because I was willing to gamble his life!"

"No one gambled anything! Are you going to make him have died in vein?" Amanda demanded next.

"Damn it! Falco didn't sacrifice himself, he was kidnapped and I'm the one who killed him!"

"None of us killed him!" Krystal interjected. "They are the ones who did this, not us!"

"What does anyone expect us to do?" Kattt asked looking over at Peppy with an uninterested shrug of her shoulder.

"They just took out a member of the most unbeatable team of the entire Lylat system."

"It doesn't matter. We have to put an end to this!"

"Well, enjoy." Katt said as she stood up and began to turn towards the door.

"Both of you stop!" Peppy said sternly. Katt stopped when she noticed Fox had stopped in his tracks. "Fox, _please_! Think about the first time we even met Falco!" Fox made a fist. Katt looked away, knowing where this conversation was headed. "Have you already forgotten the first thing he told you when you made him _your_ second in command?"

"…_If I'm ever useless, or I hold you up; just leave me there. Get sentimental later and don't waist your time thinking about our past together because remember: guys like me were trained not to give a damn."_

Those words haunted him.

"Still, Peppy. I can't."

"Fox-"

"Dad, he's not ready." Lucy interrupted. Peppy looked back at her as Fox gazed over his shoulder at her. He gave her a look of gratitude before leaving the bridge. The rest fell into silence again.

"I…" Amanda paused. "I can't believe Falco's really-" she looked up when Katt stormed out of the room before she could hear the rest.

"Dad, let me take over for Fox." Lucy said turning to him. Peppy frowned.

"It's too dangerous!"

"Dad!" she said ready to argue.

"Lucy _please_!"

"Dad, you're absolutely right: we don't have time to get sentimental right now," at this point her tears were streaming down her furry cheeks. "Falco wouldn't want us to hold back…" She placed a hand to her forehead and turned away from them as she wept. Peppy placed a hand on her shoulder and fought his own tears as he listened to Slippy again begin to weep. Amanda ignored her tears as she watched Krystal stand up and begin to walk towards the doors.

"Please excuse me." Her voice broke as she rushed from the room. Silence followed. A solemn and thick silence draped over them like a shrowd.

"_When is that guy going to stop screaming?_" "_Shh! The guards are gonna' come back!_" "Hey bird! Stop screaming already! You're not the only one getting tortured!" voices echoed from the other cells. He couldn't stop screaming. The pain was too overwhelming; the anxiety of it all was too much. His blood churned abnormally in his veins, his head felt like it was cracking, his heart randomly fluctuated between racing and almost completely stopping.

"Falco!" James called to him, attempting to console him in some way. "You have to stop screaming. You're only going to encourage them to increase your hours!" Falco took in a deep breath, trying to stifle the screaming. His chest heaved as he tried to take in a breath. Every second that passed felt like an eternity, his throat burned, every breath he took felt like a thousand tiny needles scraping his insides. What had they done to him?

"There you go," James said placing a hand on his shoulder. "Just save your energy."

Falco pulled away from him and let himself fall foreword on the ground, curling into a ball and forcing himself to choke on his own screams.

"Give it about three hours, it's a toxin synthesized from the smog of Venom."

"…W-Why are they…exposing us to it…?" Falco breathed.

"Some experimentation Andross is performing. The more we're exposed, the easier it is to domesticate those aparoids."

"Th-The toxin…domesticates them…?"

"The toxin destroys your antibodies and any other anti-agents that might fight the aparoid control without the risk of killing you. That's why you're injected instead of being forced to inhale it." Falco looked away from him and focused on his heart beat. It was completely out of control. Was he going to be just some mindless puppet Andross would use for his sick game?

"W-Why didn't you…just go back to Star Fox, when…you had…the chance…?" James looked away.


	14. Chapter 14

Hey peeps! Sorry for the wait!

Enjoy!

Ch. 14~

"I cannot express the sympathy I feel for the passing of your pilot, Mr. McCloud." General Chainbrood said over the screen, nodding.

"Just call me Fox." Fox said with a small sigh.

"General, you have my sincerest apology, Star Fox wasn't ready to serve you before," Peppy began. "we are all ready to once again protect the Lylat system."

"Peppy Hare, there is no need to apologize. Death is difficult for all of us." He replied. They were all silent. "I have a mission for you, Star Fox."

"What is it, General?" Peppy asked.

"In light of all that has happened, I prefer to send Star Fox on a recon mission."

"What?" Fox gasped.

"I cannot allow your emotions to cloud efficiency."

"General, I assure you that there is no need for this! We understand fully the situation." Peppy reasoned.

"My decision stands. The Bull Dog Squadron will track down this new enemy."

"Excuse me, we're professionals!" Amanda barked.

"Star Fox is to report to the facility on Fichina and investigate the cause of the signal disruptions."

"General, please-" Peppy began to say.

"The mission stands." With that the call cut off and the team was left to their own shocked silence.

"How many more people has Andross experimented on?"

"Thousands. I lost count." James replied as he sat back against the bars. After only three sessions of experimentation Falco gave into James's offer and laid down on the bench.

"How many have died?" He looked over at James when he didn't respond. James's head was leaned back against the bars, and his eyes gazing off into the distance full of thought.

"From this facility or in general?" Falco stared, not knowing if he wanted to know the answer to that.

"From this facility about seven thousand." Falco looked away. One way or another, he had to admit it; he was in hell. This place was going to take his life, and no one was going to help him. Fox and the rest thought he was dead, and if a facility like this existed, it would be impossible to find. He was stuck at this bastard's mercy with no way to warn the world about what was about to happen. He jumped at the sound of a large crash and gazed out through the bars of their cell, seeing one of the prisoners jump down from his cell.

"I-I'm out!" he gasped. Thousands of hands flew out of their bars towards him while voices echoed their desperation to escape. Falco glanced at James, seeing he hadn't moved.

"Don't even move. He can't escape this facility, let alone this room." It sounded too good to be true. He watched as the dog ran over to the nearest cell and performed whatever trick he had done earlier to escape his cell and watched as he freed the two lizards from their cell. They jumped out and began spreading to other cages.

"It's a shame their stupid." James said calmly. Falco looked over at him.

"Yeah, if he had tried to get the hell out of here, and succeeded, he could have gotten help." James chuckled. "What?"

"I didn't think you were the optimistic type."

"This coming from the guy who preaches to his son and then decides to disappear." James was quiet for a moment, but Falco wasn't sorry for what he said.

"Their stupid for two reasons," he began. "The first is that they didn't realize that there's a camera in this room, and the second is because they didn't notice the extra ventilation system in this room. They'll knock us all out soon." Falco looked up at the ceiling of the room, seeing the vents.

"So that's it?"

"That's it."

"You gave up quickly didn't you?"

"Nah, I tried to get out a few times," he shrugged. "Only made it to the bridge." Falco frowned.

"How the hell did you manage that?" he asked. James gave a sly grin.

"You sure you want to know?"

"Got nothing better to do." James shrugged.

"When we both regain consciousness. There's no point now." Falco looked up again, seeing the awaited purple like gas flowing from the vents.

"N-No!" One of the lizards gasped.

"I'm getting the hell out of here!" The dog cried. Falco watched as the three sprinted through the doors, yelling to each other in a simple-minded attempt to hurry. The cries for help from the other cells quieted at the sound of a laser gun firing. The dog's voice disappeared, and so did the voice of one of the lizards. The last only cried words of mercy before Falco was overwhelmed by the gas and dropped to the floor of his cell.

"I can't believe this!" Amanda whined as the duo members of Star Fox landed their arwings outside of the facility.

"There's nothing we can do about it now," Vivian replied as she hopped down from the wing of her vessel. "Let's just figure out what's going on here." She wasn't too thrilled about this pointless mission either but she couldn't bring herself to argue any further. Actually convincing the new general to give them a more meaningful mission was out of the question-her father, Fox and the rest of their team needed time to grieve. Especially since Fox was in such bad shape. The thought of Star Fox's ace pilot flashed into her mind and she pushed the loop of memories away as quickly as they surfaced.

"Vivi?" Amanda called to her from where she stood in the doorway. Vivian blinked back to reality and pushed back the haunting memories-focusing now on the task at hand.

"Sorry, let's get going." She said before following after her. She was just kidding herself. This time…Star Fox may not be able to handle this new enemy. Whoever they were, they knew where and when to hit Star Fox hard and fast.

That's it for now! Reviews?


	15. Chapter 15

Just got a copy of Star Fox for the 3DS and have some inspiration so yay! Update for you! And before you ask about the following this fic is purely BROmance (brotherly love) so this isn't a yai paring (though I have nothing against homosexuality) Enjoy!

Ch. 15~

"_Who is that guy?" Fox asked looking up from both his drink and his thoughts. Falco simply shrugged from where he sat on the stool next to his, swirling his drink in its glass._

"_He's a guy I ran into a couple of times." He said simply. Fox frowned a little at his vague response. It tormented his curiosity but again-he respected Falco's privacy so much more. Ugh! But it had already been three months since he joined Star Fox. That last dogfight with Star Wolf had sparked his interest about their newest member. Their conversation had been as follows:_

"_So we meet again bird! I hope you haven't forgotten about the great Leon!" Leon had said. Fox couldn't help but notice the slight…hunger in the lizard's voice._

"_Great, you stalked me here too? I thought you gave up in Zoness." Falco's reply sounded bored and uninterested. He remembered narrowing his eyes at the conversation as he dodged Wolf's lasers._

"_You're mine bird! You hear me? Mine!"_

"_Right."_

"_What does Leon have against you?" Fox asked him. Falco looked back at him with a curious look in his eye and Fox instantly shied away from his own question. "S-Sorry it's none of my business." He replied quickly. Falco shook his head with a chuckle._

"_It's ok, I promise; you're not going to spontaneously combust if you ask me a question." Falco replied sarcastically. Fox looked back at him, surprised but ended up chuckling in response._

"_Oh good, I was worried." He teased. Falco smiled a little response, his gaze momentarily distracted by the bar tender as he rushed past them with a tray full of drinks. Fox realized had had also been distracted by the sudden movement. He recovered and asked again._

"_So, what does he have against you?" Falco looked back at him and lowered his drink._

"_Let's just say he doesn't take rejection too well." He said with a chuckle. Fox didn't understand._

"_So…you didn't let him join Hot Rod?" Falco gave a single chuckle in response to his words and simply shook his head._

"_No that's not exactly what I meant." He said calmly. Fox frowned; unable to formulate the answer his ace pilot was expecting him to. In what way did Falco reject Leon?_

_Fox swallowed a bit of his drink and stole a glance at Falco while he did so, seeing the avian's eyes following a light green bird that had just entered the bar. Fox couldn't help but look at her too. It was one of those dames in expensive clothing with amazing attributes. Fox lowered his drink, ready for his next guess._

"_You stole his girl." Fox said pulling his pilot's attention back to him._

"_His girl?" he quoted with a chuckle._

"_What?" Fox asked still bewildered that he was still wrong. Falco shook his head, amused by something._

"_I think it'd be accurate to say that __he'd__ be the girl." Falco said before taking a drink. At first, Fox didn't understand. His gaze shifted to a couple sitting at a table across the way and he saw a tiger flirting with his date-who looked very uninterested. Fox's eyes widened the second he understood._

"_He's gay for you?" Fox gasped. Falco laughed at his shock. Fox thought back to the conversation he had overheard. It all made sense! "Leon hates you because…" now he was lost._

"_-Because I'm not gay and or gay for him." Falco practically recited. Fox stared at the avian._

"_Oh my…" his voice trailed off before he struggled to suppress his laughter._

"_Go ahead, you wouldn't be the first." Falco sighed._

"_I'm sorry it's just, I had it in my head that you had just stole from him or something!" Fox defended. Falco rolled his eyes._

"_If only right?" Falco replied. Fox laughed again._

"_I'm sorry it's just…I didn't see that coming." Fox sighed. Falco smirked back at him._

"_So now that we're on this topic, I couldn't help but over hear from Peppy you've never had any girl and-"_

"_I'M NOT GAY!" Fox practically blurted out. He went three shades of red when the bar went silent. Falco laughed._

"_I hate you." Fox grumbled as the bar once again brimmed with life._

"_It's ok Foxie there's no shame in it." Falco said patting his shoulder._

"_Shut up." He said shoving back at him. It was that very moment he decided he liked Falco._

Fox rubbed at his tired eyes and looked around at his surroundings-for a moment forgetting where he had decided to escape Peppy's agonizing speeches about Falco's death. Ironically-no not ironically…he had locking himself inside of Falco's room. He stared out the window-at really nothing in particular and lay on the bed of his ace-pilot-where he had collapsed previously to his grief.

Fox gritted his teeth and curled into a ball. _Damn it! Not again. Stop crying there's time for this later!_ He couldn't stop himself.

_"Leon you bastard! Return Falco to me!"_

Fox paused, allowing the memory to replay itself in his head.

_"Sorry, but Falco belongs to us now."_

"_Ha! I no longer need that dog!"_

Fox jumped from Falco's bead and moved to the door. He paused and looked back into the room.

"Don't worry…" he said to the silence. "I'll make them pay." With that, he left the room he didn't intended to enter until his business was done.

Right away he noted that Peppy was no longer in the bridge, or the whiskey bottle for that matter. Fox brushed it from his mind and walked over to the console. R.O.B. was still offline but id didn't bother him. A few buttons being pressed were followed by a few key strokes and then the screen read, "dialing." Fox waited patiently for the call to go through. He wanted answers, and he was going to get them.

Why was it taking so long?

_**"Communication Offline." **_R.O.B.'s voice replied simply. Fox's eyes widened. What? He couldn't reach Wolf… His hands flew to the console a second time. A chill ran up and down his spine. What the hell was going on?

He tried contacting Panther and sure enough reaching him was taking forever.

_**"Communication Offline."**_ Fox stared at the screen. No way… Did Leon…? No, Wolf would have taken him down, there's no way Leon would have killed him. Fox shook his head. Something was very wrong. The Bulldog squadron had collected Pigma's body already. Pigma was dead again but how had he come back to life after they had shot him down? He had been infused with an apperoid…how had he even reverted to his own body?

Fox stared at the screen for a long time before trying to make one more call.

He entered the name that was haunting his thoughts, "Falco Lombardi."

"_**Online Communication."**_ Fox stared at the screen. Online? _**"Answering Communication sequence."**_

"…Falco?" Fox called meekly. There was silence for a long time before at last he heard something. Fox became very still as he listened. Voices…he was hearing voices. He turned up the volume to its maximum and listened.

_"Yes I'm aware we are behind schedule. This Leon fellow took too long in delivering Lombardi."_ Fox's eyes widened in shock._ Delivering_ Lombardi? Falco was still alive!

_"He has deserted us my liege, Star Fox chased him off and he has yet to return."_ There was a long pause. Who ever owned that voice was obviously using a communicator? Fox narrowed his eyes as he pressed another series of buttons. The screen came online and he found himself looking at the corner of a book, a pen across from it and a window _with a view of sector Y_. The communicator…it was on a desk or something.

Fox couldn't believe his eyes-or luck for that matter. They weren't far from where this transmission was taking place! Fox's heart thumped in his chest as he impatiently listened for the voice again.

_"Of course, although, only two members of Star Fox ventured to Fichina. I assume the others are grieving."_ Fox frowned. Vivi and Amanda needed to be warned. _"Chainbrood has given them recon missions from what I hear. I doubt they'll get in the way any time soon you're grace."_

So whom was this person talking to? Someone who obviously thought they were high and mighty.

_"Understood. I will personally keep Lombardi in my custody."_

"Gotcha." Fox mumbled angrily.

_"I hope the Krozoa spirits are in fact solidifying your progress my lord."_ Fox's eyes widened. What? What were these people doing with the Krozoa spirits?

_"Good, farewell my lord."_ With that the voice stopped but their footsteps came closer. Fox's watched as a tall monkey came into view and started walking towards the desk. He grabbed the pen with his hairy fingers and then grabbed the book, this unfortunately knocked Falco's communicator onto the floor. As this happened-Fox jumped when he found himself staring at Andross's face.

The monkey's hands came into view and lifted the face from where it sat on the ground. Light twinkled through a pair of fake eyes…a mask? This guy was pretending to be Andross? Fox froze. The Krozoa spirits…who had this guy been talking to?

"What is this?" the monkey suddenly asked. Fox froze, realizing the communicator was still on. He had to do it, he had to hang up or else this guy would know he had been listening. He reached for the button and froze again when the feed from the camera revealed that it was pointing away from the monkey, which meant the screen was too. Fox let out a relieved sigh as he moved again to press the button. One last glance at the screen and he stared as a figure was led through a pair of doors. Fox stared at the being as he was led into the room with a guard on each side. Relief washed over him.

"Falco…" he practically breathed. He looked exhausted, bandages on his shoulder and ribcage were stained with blood but he wasn't really in bad shape. Fox watched as a second figure was being led in. They were about Falco's height, and looked like another fox-

"Welcome back, both of you." With that the feed was suddenly cut off. Fox looked down at the controls and frowned when he realized the monkey had hung up-probably just hit the button.

The call window closed and he found himself staring at Venom through the windshield. He made a fist.

"Falco…" He muttered quietly. "I'm coming for you, so don't worry anymore."

That's it! Reviews please!


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